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Issued Semi-Monthly 



Number 67 



November 7, 1894 




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EDITED BY RICHARD GRANT 

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Mr. Grant White combines the qualifications of a perfect editor of Shakespeare in larger 
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trail of circumstantial evidence ; he has a sincere desire to illustrate his author rather than 
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imagination ; a critic of music, he appreciates the importance of rhythm as the. higher 
mystery of versification. The sum of his qualifications is large, and his work is honora- 
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EDITED BY 

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From Harper's Monthly, December, 1883. 
His introductions are marvels of terseness, and yet contain everything that an intellv 
gent reader cares to know; his glossarial, historical, and explanatory notes are brief, 
luminous, and directly to the point; his text is as perfect as the most industrious re- 
search and painstaking study could make it ; and the concise and excellent life of 
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illuminate the text. They make the Riverside Shakespeare, so far as the work of the 
editor goes, probably the most comfortable of all editions to read. 

Fro?n the Liverpool Post. 
The first Shakespearean scholar in America is probably Mr. Richard Grant White. 
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SEije Kifcersioe literature Series 



Mi 



JULIUS CtESAR 






BY 



WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 



FROM THE RIVERSIDE EDITION EDITED BY 
RICHARD GRANT WHITE 



WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES 




s^o j fr- X 



HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

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Copyright, 1883 and 18&4, 
By HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 

All rights reserved. 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. 
Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton and CompaBy. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Mr. Richard Grant White was a masterly editor of 
Shakespeare ; he had an equipment by nature in a fine ear 
and delicate power of discrimination, and his Shakespearean 
studies began early and continued through a lifetime with 
concomitant studies in music, language, and history which 
constantly reenforced these. One of the latest labors of his 
mature years was the careful preparation of the Riverside 
Edition of Shakespeare, and he showed his judgment not 
only in the great care with which he sought to establish the 
text, but in the reserve with which he annotated it. He de- 
sired to produce an edition of Shakespeare which would be 
read by an intelligent reader, and his aim therefore was 
gently to part the bushes when the way was not perfectly 
clear, not to raise an ingenious thicket of comment about 
the dramas. 

His edition therefore affords an admirable one for those 
who are making their first acquaintance with Shakespeare, 
since such readers are impatient to get at Shakespeare him- 
self by the most direct approach, and are not yet ready to 
make his works an exercise in criticism. It may be added 
that the spirit in which Mr. White edited Shakespeare in 
the Riverside Edition is precisely that which has been fol- 
lowed in the numbers of the Riverside Literature Series, so 
that the editor of that series finds himself reenforced by Mr. 
White, and able gladly to avail himself of Mr. White's labors. 

At the same time it cannot be forgotten that these little 
volumes are used often under conditions which do not 
permit of a free use of aids to the fuller understanding of 
Shakespeare, and that a schoolboy or schoolgirl though 
intelligent lacks the familiar experience which serves as an 
interpreter of some of Shakespeare's more difficult phrases. 



4 INTR OB UCTION. 

The editor, therefore, though assuming that every school- 
house will be supplied with a good dictionary, which will 
answer a great many of the questions arising in a careful 
reading of Shakespeare, has undertaken to add to Mr. 
White's brief notes, where it seemed desirable. For the 
most part he has concerned himself with words and phrases, 
believing that the one study which the reader may most 
profitably pursue when first reading Shakespeare is that 
which springs from an attention to the English of Shake- 
speare. All his additions are indicated by being inclosed 
in brackets [ ]. 

There are of course various inquiries which Shakespeare 
sets on foot, and teacher and scholar will find no difficulty 
in branching out from their first delightful reading of Julius 
Ccesar in many directions. It would be, for example, a 
profitable study which should take up the reading of Plu- 
tarch's lives of Caesar, Brutus, and Antony, with a view to 
seeing how far Shakespeare, who relied much on Plutarch, 
shaped these characters to his own ends. It would be es- 
pecially interesting if one could make the comparison with 
North's translation which Shakespeare used. Again, one 
might test Shakespeare's conception with that which 
scientific Roman history supplies, but one should never lose 
sight of the fact that human nature is paramount with 
Shakespeare, whereas the facts of history and the laws of 
development are professedly the ruling force with scientific 
historians. 

As a play to be acted, Julius Ccesar offers less impedi- 
ment to school use than any other of Shakespeare's, and the 
study of it in this form would be of great value not only as 
a subtle criticism of the play itself, but as an illustration 
of studies in Roman costume ; for though Shakespeare writes 
always as an Englishman, he has introduced fewer anti- 
ancient elements into the setting of the play than common, 
and the distinct Anglicisms are not many. The chapter on 
costume in connection with this play in Knight's Pictorial 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

Shakespeare is a convenient repertory from which to draw 
hints. 

" Among the plays that bear Shakespeare's name," says 
Mr. White in his brief introduction, " this is one of the com- 
paratively few which are purely Shakespearean. It is not 
founded upon any other, nor is there in it a trace of any hand 
but Shakespeare's. The substance of its story is taken 
from the lives of Caesar, Brutus, Antony, and Cicero in 
North's Plutarch. In Plutarch, also, Shakespeare found 
the traits of character that distinguish its various person- 
ages. It is, strictly speaking, a tragical dramatic history, 
rather than a tragedy pure and simple, like King Lear or 
Hamlet ; for it has no plot, and no other dramatic move- 
ment than the simple succession of historical events. These 
are not grouped or modified by an informing tragic ideal ; 
they are merely compressed. Julius Ccesar was first pub- 
lished in the folio of 1623, where it is printed with note- 
worthy correctness ; but there are a few passages the con- 
fusion of which it seems impossible to restore to order. 
This tragedy, as we have it, is notably short, — the shortest 
of all its writer's serious works except Macbeth ; and it is 
probable that the text of the folio was printed from a stage 
copy, and gives us the acting version, cut down for stage 
purposes. Yet its easy continuity and its correctness favor 
the conjecture of the Cambridge editors that it was printed 
from the author's own manuscript. A Julius Caesar in 
Latin, by Richard Eades, had been played at Oxford in 
1582 ; and it is probable that this is referred to when Polo- 
nius says, in Hamlet, Act III. Sc. 2, that he " did enact 
Julius Caesar in the University," and was " killed in the 
Capitol." Yet possibly in writing this passage Shakespeare 
may have had in mind his own tragedy, the composition of 
which external and internal evidence unite to assign to the 
year 1600 or 1601. The events which it presents in a dra- 
matic form took place between the feast of Lupercal, B. c. 
45, and the battle of Philippi, b. c. 42." 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



Julius Cesar. 

Octavius C>«sar, ) triumvirs after 

Marcus Antonius, > the death of 

M. ^Emilius Lepidus, ) Julius Csesar. 

Cicero, 1 

Puelius, > senators. 

Popilius Lena, ) 

Marcus Brutus, ] 

Cassius, 

Casca, 

Trebonius, 

LlGAKIUS, 

Decius Brutus, 
Metellus Cimber, I 

ClNNA, I 

Flavius and Marullus, tribunes. 
Artemidorus of Cnidos, a teacher of 

Rhetoric. 
A Soothsayer. 



conspirators 

against 
Julius Csesar. 



Cinna, a poet. 

Lucilius, 

Titinius, 

Messala, 

Young Cato, 

volumnius, 

Varro, 

Clitus, 

Claudius, 

Strato, 

Lucius, 

Dardanius, 

Pindarus, servant to Cassius. 

Calpurnia, wife to Csesar. 
Portla, wife to Brutus. 

Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attendants, 
etc. 



Another Poet. 



friends to Brutus and 
Cassius. 



servants to Brutus. 



Scene : Rome ; the neighbourhood of Sardis ; the neighbourhood of Philippi. 



Julius Csesar. The name of the great Roman was Cains Julius Csesar ; Julius 
being his tribal or family name (like Campbell or Graham). But in his branch of 
the gens the cognomen Caesar had been added (for reasons unknown) to the family 
name some generations before, so that the dictator was the eighteenth Julius 
Caesar in his own direct line ; the others having for their first names, or preno- 
mens, Sextus, Lucius, or, like him, Caius. In Rome he would never be called 
Julius Cassar ; but by his friends Caius, and by the public Caesar, par excellence. 
[So world-wide did the name become as a synonym for chieftainship that even 
the Slavic races appropriated it. The Russian Czar or Tsar is the same word.] 



JULIUS C^SAR. 



ACT I. 

Scene I. Rome. A street. 

Enter Flavius, Marullus, and certain Commoners. 

Flav. Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you 
home : 
Is this a holiday ? what ! know you not, 
Being mechanical, you ought not walk 
Upon a labouring day without the sign 
Of your profession ? Speak, what trade art thou ? 

First Com. Why, sir, a carpenter. 

Mar. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule ? 
What dost thou with thy best apparel on ? 
You, sir, what trade are you ? 9 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine work- 
man, I am but, as 3^011 would say, a cobbler. 

Mar. But what trade art thou? answer me 
directly. 

Sec. Com. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use 
with a safe conscience ; which is, indeed, sir, a mender 
of bad soles. 

Mar. What trade, thou knave ? thou naughty 
knave, what trade ? 

13. [use = practise.] 

16. [knave was originally no other than "boy," the German 
knabe, and in our common use we give the word " boy " the 
range of two of the meanings of knave. The notion of villain 
was a remoter third, and is not in Marullus's mind.] 



$ JULIUS CAESAR. [Act I. 

Sec. Com. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out 
with me : yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. 

Mar. What mean'st thou by that? mend me, thou 
saucy fellow ! 20 

Sec. Com. Why, sir, cobble you. 

Flav. Thou art a cobbler, art thou ? 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the 
awl : I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor wo- 
men's matters, but with awl. I am, indeed, sir, a sur- 
geon to old shoes ; when they are in great danger, I 
recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon 
neat's leather have gone upon my handiwork. 

Flav. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day ? 
Why dost thou lead these men about the streets ? so 

Sec. Com. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get 
myself into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make 
holiday, to see Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph. 

Mar. Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings 
he home? 
What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels ? 
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless 

things ! 
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, 
Knew you not Pompey ? Many a time and oft 
Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements, 40 

To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, 
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 
The live-long clay, with patient expectation, 
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : 
And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
Have you not made an universal shout, 
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, 

47. her banks. Tiber is "Father Tiber" as Thames is 






Scene L] JULIUS CAESAR. 9 

To hear the replication of your sounds 

Made in her concave shores ? 

And do you now put on your best attire ? 50 

And do you now cull out a holiday ? 

And do you now strew flowers in his way 

That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ? 

Be gone ! 

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, 

Pray to the gods to intermit the plague 

That needs must light on this ingratitude. 

Flav. Go, go, good countrymen, and> for this 
fault, 
Assemble all the poor men of your sort ; 
Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears eo 
Into the channel, till the lowest stream 
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all. 

[Exeunt all the Commoners. 

See, whe'er their basest metal be not mov'd ; 
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. 
Go you down that way towards the Capitol ; 
This way will I : disrobe the images, 
If you do find them deck'd with ceremony. 

Mar. May we do so? 
You know it is the feast of Lupercal. 

Flav. It is no matter ; let no images 70 

" Father Thames " ; but both are referred to in the literature of 
Shakespeare's clay by " her," as well as by " his." In neither 
case is there a personification by gender ; merely a varying use 
of the pronoun in the possessive form, consequent upon the need 
afterward supplied by " its," which at that time made its appear- 
ance in the language. See " Did lose his lustre," Sc. 2, 1. 124. 

63. whe'er = whether ; a contraction which occurs elsewhere. 

67. [ceremony. Another text reads ceremonies, and the 
word in either form is used for ceremonial symbols. See below, 
Act I., Sc. 2, 1. 285.] 



10 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActI. 

Be hung with. Caesar's trophies. I '11 about, 

And drive away the vulgar from the streets : 

So do you too, where you perceive them thick. 

These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing 

Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, 

Who else would soar above the view of men 

And keep us all in servile fearfulness. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. A public place. 

Flourish. Enter Cesar ; Antony, for the course ; Calpurnia, Por- 
tia, Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Casca ; a great crowd 
following, among them a Soothsayer. 

Cms. Calpurnia ! 

Casca. Peace, ho! Caesar speaks. 

Cces. Calpurnia ! 

Cat. Here, my lord. 

Cms. Stand you directly in Antonius' way, 
When he doth run his course. Antonius ! 

Ant. Caesar, my lord ? 

Cms. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, 
To touch Calpurnia ; for our elders say, 
The barren, touched in this holy chase, 
Shake off their sterile curse. 

Ant. I shall remember : 

When Caesar says " do this," it is perform'd. 10 

Cces. Set on ; and leave no ceremony out. [Flourish. 

72. [vulgar. The adjective, used here as a norm, remains in 
use in its unobjectionable sense in the phrases the " vulgar 
tongue," and "vulgar fractions."] 

75. [pitch. Used of a falcon's flight " which flies the higher 
pitch." King Henry VI. First Part, Act II., Sc. 4, 1. 11.] 

Enter . . . Decius. This is Decimus Junius Brutus Albanus, 
called Decius by mistake in North's Plutarch, whence Shake- 
speare took the name, which the rhythm of his verse forbids to 
be changed. It was this Decimus (Decius) Brutus, and not 
Marcus, who was Ccesar's favorite. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CJESAR. 11 

Sooth. Caesar ! 
Cms. Ha ! who calls ? 

Casca. Bid every noise be still : peace yet again ! 
Cms. Who is it in the press that calls on me ? 
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, 
Cry "'Caesar! " Speak ; Caesar is turn'd to hear. 
Sooth. Beware the ides of March. 
Cms. What man is that? 

Bru. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of 

March. 
Cms. Set him before me ; let me see his face. 20 
Cas. Fellow, come from the throng ; look upon 

Caesar. 
Cms. What say'st thou to me now ? speak once 

again. 
Sooth. Beware the ides of March. 
Cms. He is a dreamer ; let us leave him : pass. 

[Sennet. Exeunt all except Brutus and Cassius. 
Cas. Will you go see the order of the course ? 
Bru. Not I. 
Cas. I pray you, do. 

Bru. I am not gamesome : I do lack some part 
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. 
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires ; 30 

I '11 leave you. 

Cas. Brutus, I do observe you now of late : 
I have not from your eyes that gentleness 
And show of love as I was wont to have : 
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 
Over your friend that loves you. 
18. [ides, i. e. the fifteenth day.] 

21. [fellow. Rarely used in contemptuous sense, and prob- 
ably not here.] 

28. [gamesome = fond of game.] 
34. as I was, etc. = that I was, etc. 



12 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act I. 

Bru. Cassius, 

Be not deceiv'd : if I have veil'cl my look, 
I turn the trouble of my countenance 
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am 
Of late with passions of some difference, 40 

Conceptions only proper to myself, 
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviour ; 
But let not therefore my good friends be griev'd — 
Among which number, Cassius, be you one — 
Nor construe any further my neglect, 
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, 
Forgets the shows of love to other men. 

Cas. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your 
passion ; 
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried 
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. so 

Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face ? 

Bru. No, Cassius ; for the eye sees not itself 
But by reflection, — by some other thing. 

Cas. 'T is just: 
And it is very much lamented, Brutus, 
That you have no such mirrors as will turn 
Your hidden worthiness into your eye, 
That you might see your shadow. I have heard, 
Where many of the best respect in Rome, 
Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus 60 

And groaning underneath this age's yoke, 
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes. 

Bru. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cas- 
sius, 
That you would have me seek into myself 
For that which is not in me ? 

Cas. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepar'd to hear : 
And since you know you cannot see yourself 



Scene II.] JULIUS CESAR. 13 

So well as by reflection, I, your glass, 

Will modestly discover to yourself 

That of yourself which you yet know not of. 10 

And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus : 

Were I a common laugher, or did use 

To stale with ordinary oaths my love 

To every new protester ; if you know 

That I do fawn on men and hug them hard 

And after scandal them, or if you know 

That I profess myself in banqueting 

To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. 

[Flourish, and shout. 

Bru. What means this shouting ? I do fear, the 
people 
Choose Caesar for their king. 

Cas. Ay, do you fear it ? so 

Then must I think you would not have it so. 

Bru. I would not, Cassius ; yet I love him well. 
But wherefore do you hold me here so long? 
What is it that you would impart to me ? 
If it be aught toward the general good, 
Set honour in one eye and death i' th' other, 
And I will look on both indifferently, 
For let the gods so speed me as I love 
The name of honour more than I fear death. 

Cas. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 90 
As well as I do know your outward favour. 

71. jealous on me: a use of "on" for "of" hardly obsolete 
in New England. 

88. [When we wish one " Godspeed," we wish that God favor 
him.] 

91. [When we say that a boy favors his father, we mean that 
his face is like his father's ; and the favor given in the German 
has its meaning also in Shakespeare's time of a token of favor. 
The double meaning is cleverly shown in Love's Labour 's Lost, 
Act V., Sc. 2, 1. 30-33.] 



14 JULIUS CESAR. [ActL 

Well, honour is the subject of my story. 

I cannot tell what you and other men 

Think of this life ; but, for my single self, 

I had as lief not be as live to be 

In awe of such a thing as I myself. 

I was born free as Caesar ; so were you : 

We both have fed as well, and we can both 

Endure the winter's cold as well as he : 

For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 10c 

The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, 

Caesar said to me " Dar'st thou, Cassius, now 

Leap in with me into this angry flood, 

And swim to yonder point ? " Upon the word, 

Accoutred as I was, I plunged in 

And bade him follow ; so indeed he did. 

The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it 

With lusty sinews, throwing it aside 

And stemming it with hearts of controversy; 

But ere we could arrive the point propos'd, no 

Caesar cried " Help me, Cassius, or I sink ! " 

I, as iEneas, our great ancestor, 

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 

The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber 

Did I the tired Caesar. And this man 

Is now become a god, and Cassius is 

A wretched creature and must bend his body, 

If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. 

He had a fever when he was in Spain, 

95. [Words are so alive to Shakespeare that he is forever 
playing- with them on very slight pretexts. Lief and live are 
pronounced alike.] 

109. controversy: loosely used for contention, resistance. 

110. arrive the point: a use of "arrive" without "at" fre- 
quently found in our old writers. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CJESAR. 15 

And when the fit was on him, I did mark 120 

How he did shake : 't is true, this god did shake : 

His coward lips did from their colour fly, 

And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world 

Did lose his lustre : I did hear him groan : 

Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans 

Mark him and write his speeches in their books, 

Alas, it cried " Give me some drink, Titinius," 

As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me 

A man of such a feeble temper should 

So get the start of the majestic world 130 

And bear the palm alone. [Shout. Flourish. 

Bru. Another general shout ! 
I do believe that these applauses are 
For some new honours that are heap'd on Caesar. 

Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow 
world 
Like a Colossus, and we petty men 
Walk under his huge legs and peep about 
To find ourselves dishonourable graves. 
Men at some time are masters of their fates : 
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 140 

But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that u Caesar"? 
Why should that name be sounded more than yours? 
Write them together, yours is as fair a name ; 
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well ; 
Weigh them, it is as heavy ; conjure with 'em, 
" Brutus " will start a spirit as soon as " Caesar." 
Now, in the names of all the gods at once, 
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, 
That he is otowii so great ? Asre, thou art sham'd ! 150 
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods ! 
When went there by an age, since the great flood, 



16 . JULIUS CjESAR. [ActI. 

But it was f am'd with more than with one man ? 
When could they say till now, that talk'cl of Rome, 
That her wide walls encompass'd but one man ? 
Now is it Rome indeed and room enough, 
When there is in it but one only man. 
O, you and I have heard our fathers say, 
There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd 
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome ieo 

As easily as a king. 

Bra. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ; 
What you would work me to, I have some aim : 
How I have thought of this and of these times, 
I shall recount hereafter ; for this present, 
I would not, so with love I might entreat you, 
Be any further mov'd. What you have said 
I will consider ; what you have to say 
I will with patience hear, and find a time 
Both meet to hear and answer such high things. no 
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this : 
Brutus had rather be a villager 
Than to repute himself a son of Rome 
Under these hard conditions as this time 
Is like to lay upon us. 

156. Rome . . . room: pronounced alike in Shakespeare's 
day, and indeed very long afterwards. 

159. There was a Brutus: Junius Brutus, the friend of Col- 
latinus (see Lucrece), and first consul after the expulsion of the 
Tarqnins. 

160. The eternal devil = the devil of the next world, of 
eternity, who attends to the eternal tormenting of the uure- 
generate. Known in New England as " 'tarnal." 

162. nothing jealous = not at all suspicious, doubtful. 

171. chew upon this = ruminate, think over. It is said that 
this use of " chew " is obsolete : erroneously. Not long ago I heard 
a man, who I am sure never saw the inside of a Shakespeare, if, 
indeed, the outside, say, " I give [gave] him that to chaw on." 

174. [these = such.] 



Scene II.] JULIUS CJESAR. 17 

Cas. I am glad that my weak words 
Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus. 

Bru. The ^ames are done and Caesar is returning. 

Cas. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve ; 
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you isc 

What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. 

Re-enter C^sar and his Train. 

Bru. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius, 
The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow, 
And all the rest look like a chidden train : 
Calpurnia's cheek is pale ; and Cicero 
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes 
As we have seen him in the Capitol, 
Being cross'd in conference by some senators. 

Cas. Casca will tell us what the matter is. 

Cms. Antonius ! 190 

Ant. Caesar? 

Cces. Let me have men about me that are fat : 
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights : 
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look ; 
He thinks too much : such men are dangerous. 

Ant. Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous; 
He is a noble Roman and well given. 

Cms. Would he were fatter ! But I fear him not : 
Yet if my name were liable to fear, 
I do not know the man I should avoid 200 

So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much ; 
He is a great observer, and he looks 

177. [thus much. It is worth while to note that Shake- 
speare did not warrant the phrase this much which is creeping 
into ordinary usage.] 

185. Cicero. This is Shakespeare's own imagination of 
Cicero ; there is no record of such an expression on his face. 

197. •wall given = well addicted, of honest habit and manners. 



18 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act I. 

Quite through the deeds of men ; he loves no plays, 

As thou dost, Antony ; he hears no music ; 

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort 

As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit 

That could be mov'd to smile at any thing. 

Such men as he be never at heart's ease 

Whiles they behold a greater than themselves, 

And therefore are they very dangerous. 210 

I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd 

Than what I fear ; for always I am Caesar. 

Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, 

And tell me truly what thou think' st of him. 

[Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and all his Train, but Casca. 

Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak ; would you 
speak with me ? 

Bra. Ay, Casca ; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, 
That Caesar looks so sad. 

Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not ? 

Bra. I should not then ask Casca what had chanc'd. 

Casca. Why, there was a crown offer'd him : and 
being offer'd him, he put it by with the back of his 
hand, thus ; and then the people fell a-shouting. 222 

Bra. What was the second noise for ? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 

Cas. They shouted thrice : what was the last cry 
for? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 

Bru. Was the crown offer'd him thrice ? 

Casca. Ay, marry, was 't, and he put it by thrice, 

221. [A truly vigorous rejecter turns the palm outward, for 
the palm strikes. Shakespeare's conception of the character of 
Csesar, as determining the tragedy, is presented here. Plutarch 
says : " The chiefest cause that made him mortally hated was the 
covetous desire he had to be called king."] 



Scene II.] JULIUS CuESAR. 19 

every time gentler than other ; and at every putting- 
by mine honest neighbours shouted. 220 

Cas. Who offer'd him the crown? 

Casca. Why, Antony. 

Bru. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Ca;;ca. 

Casca. I can as well be hang'd as tell the manner 
of it : it was mere foolery ; I did not mark it. I saw 
Mark Antony offer him a crown ; — yet 't was not a 
crown neither, 'twas one of these coronets; — and, as 
I told you, he put it by once : but, for all that, to my 
thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offer'd 
it to him again ; then he jmt it by again : but, to my 
thinking, he was very loath to lay his fingers off it. 
And then he offer'd it the third time ; he put it the 
third time by : and still as he refus'd it, the rabble- 
ment shouted and clapp'd their chapp'd hands and 
threw up their sweaty night-caps and utter'd such a 
deal of stinking breath because Caesar refus'd the 
crown that it had almost choked Csesar; for he 
s wounded and fell down at it : and for mine own part, 
I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and 
receiving the bad air. 250 

Cas. But, soft, I pray you : what, did Csesar 
swound ? 

Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and 
foam'd at mouth, and was speechless. 

Bru. 'T is very like : he hath the falling sickness. 

Cas. No, Caesar hath it not ; but you and I 
And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness. 

248. [swounded, a regular enough word, as can be seen by 
the form three lines below ; but there is often an effort at in- 
tensifying the action in such forms, as for example in the irregu- 
lar " drownded."] 

254. the falling sickness: the old English name for epi- 
lepsy, which had not quite passed out of use forty years ago. 



20 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act I. 

Casca. I know not what you mean by that •; but, I 
am sure, Csesar fell down. If the tag-rag people did 
not clap him and hiss him, according as he pleas'd and 
displeas'd them, as they use to do the players in the 
theatre, I am no true man. 26i 

Bru. What said he when he came unto himself ? 

Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he per- 
ceiv'd the common herd was glad he ref us'd the crown, 
he pluck'd me ope his doublet and offer'd them his 
throat to cut. An I had been a man of any occupa- 
tion, if I would not have taken him at a word, I would 
I might go to hell among the rogues. And so he fell. 
When he came to himself again, he said, If he had done 
or said any thing amiss, lie desired their worships to 
think it was his infirmity. Three or four wenches, 
where I stood, cried " Alas, good soul ! " and forgave 
him with all their hearts : but there 's no heed to be 
taken of them ; if Cresar had stabb'd their mothers, 
they would have done no less. 2-5 

Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away ? 

Casca. Ay. 

Cas. Did Cicero say any thing ? 

Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek. 

258. [tag-rag. We have a phrase which makes these words 
even more contemptuous.] 

265. pluck'd me ope. Here " me " is used in a dative sense: 
" plucked me " meaning plucked for me, or to me ; that is, be- 
fore me. This use is not uncommon in Shakespeare's time, and 
later. [De Quincey comments on the Biblical passage, " Saddle 
me the ass," by telling of the reader who mistook the italicizing 
in the verse which followed for emphasis instead of a word 
omitted in the original, " And they saddled him."] 

266. [a man of any occupation, i. e. a mechanic or trades- 
man, like those of the rabble. We still ask : " What is his oc- 
cupation?"] 

279. he spoke Greek. Greek was used by highly cultivated 
Romans as French is used by people of the same sort to-day. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 21 

Cas. To what effect ? 2so 

Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I '11 ne'er look you 
i' tli' face again : but those that understood him smil'd 
at one another and shook their heads ; but, for mine 
own part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more 
news too : Marullus and Flavius, for pulling* scarfs off 
Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. 
There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it. 

Cas. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? 

Casca. No, I am promis'd forth. 

Cas. Will you dine with me to-morrow? 290 

Casca. Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and 
your dinner worth the eating. 

Cas. Good : I will expect you. 

Casca. Do so. Farewell, both. [Exit. 

Bru. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be ! 
He was quick metal when he went to school. 

Cas. So is he now in execution 
Of any bold or noble enterprise, 
However he puts on this tardy form. 
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, 300 

Which gives men stomach to digest his words 
With better appetite. 

Bru. And so it is. For this time I will leave you: 
To-morrow, if you please to speak with me, 
I will come home to you ; or, if you will, 
Come home to me, and I will wait for you. 

Cas. I will do so : till then, think of the world. 

[Exit Brutus. 
Well, Brutus, thou art noble ; yet, I see, 
Thy honourable metal may be wrought 
From that it is dispos'd : therefore it is meet 310 

289. [forth, i. e. he was to sup abroad, as was once a common 
expression.] 

295. [blunt = clumsy, awkward.] 



22 JULIUS CjESAR. [ActI. 

That noble minds keep ever with their likes ; 

For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd ? 

Caesar doth bear me hard ; bnt he loves Brutus : 

If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, 

He should not humour me. I will this night, 

In several hands, in at his windows throw, 

As if they came from several citizens, 

Writings all tending to the great opinion 

That Rome holds of his name ; wherein obscurely 

Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at : 320 

And after this let Caesar seat him sure ; 

For we will shake him, or worse days endure. [Exit. 

Scene III. The same. A street. 

Thunder and lightning. Enter, from opposite sides, Casca, with his 
sivord drawn, and Cicero. 

Cic. Good even, Casca : brought you Caesar home ? 
Why are you breathless ? and why stare you so ? 

Casca. Are not you mov'd, when all the sway of 
earth 
Shakes like a thing unfirm ? O Cicero, 
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds 
Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen 
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, 
To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds : 
But never till to-night, never till now, 
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. 10 

Either there is a civil strife in heaven, 
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, 
Incenses them to send destruction. 

322. [It has been suggested that a rhymed couplet at the end 
of a scene denoted a special change of situation.] 

1. brought you Caesar home ? = did you escort, accompany, 
Caesar home ? 

10. [The reference is not so much to lightning as to meteors. 
See Act II., Sc. 1, 1. 44.] 



Scene III.] JULIUS CJESAR. 23 

Cic. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful ? 

Casca. A common slave — you know him well by 
sight — 
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn 
Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his hand, 
Not sensible of fire, remain'd unscorch'd. 
Besides — I ha' not since put up my sword — 
Against the Capitol I met a lion, 20 

Who glar'd upon me, and went surly by, 
Without annoying me : and there were drawn 
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, 
Transformed with their fear ; who swore they saw 
Men all in fire walk up and down the streets. 
And yesterday the bird of night did sit 
Even at noon-day upon the market-place, 
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies 
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say 
" These are their reasons ; they are natural ; " 30 

For, I believe, they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon. 

Cic. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time : 
But men may construe things after their fashion, 
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves. 
Comes Caesar to the Capitol to-morrow? 

Casca. He doth ; for he did bid Antonius 
Send word to you he would be there to-morrow ? 

Cic. Good night then, Casca : this disturbed sky 39 
Is not to walk in. 

Casca. Farewell, Cicero. [Exit Cicero 

Enter Cassius. 

Cas. Who 's there ? 

Casca. A Roman. 

Cas. Casca, by your voice. 

32. [climate = region.] 



24 JULIUS CESAR. [Act I. 

■a. Your ear is good. Cassius, what ' night is 
this! 
A very pleasing night to honest men. 
Casca. "Who ever knew the heavens menace so ? 
. Those that have known the earth so full of 
faults. 
For my part, I have walk'd about the stre 
Submitting me unto the perilous night. 
And. thus unbraced. Casca. as you see, 

bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone; 
And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open so 
The breast of heaven. I did present myself 
Even in the aim and very flash of it. 

But wherefore did you so much tempt the 
keavei 
It is the part of men to fear and tremble, 
When the most mighty 2 - by tokens send 
Sinh dreadful heralds to astonish us. 

( *. You are dull. Casca, and those sparks of life 
That shoidd be in a Roman you do want. 
Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze 
And put on fear and case yourself in wonder, 
see the strange impatience of the heavens : 
But if you would consider the true ca 
Why all these fires, why all these gliding gho.-r-. 
Why birds and beasts from quality and kind. 
Why old men fool, and children calculate. 
Whv all these things change from their ordinance 
Their natures and preformed faculties 

42. what " night = what a night. See line 137. 

"unbraced = uugirt, unbuttoned.] 
50. [cross = zigzagging, crossing back and forth.] 
65. Why old men fool = a verbal use of i; fool " not uncom- 
mon nowadavs. 



Scene III.] JULIUS CjESAR. 25 

To monstrous quality, — why, you shall find 

That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits, 

To make them instruments of fear and warning 70 

Unto some monstrous state. 

Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man 

Most like this dreadful night, 

That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars 

As doth the lion in the Capitol, 

A man no mightier than thyself or me 

In personal action, yet prodigious grown 

And fearful, as these strange eruptions are. 

Casca. 'T is Caesar that you mean ; is it not, 
Cassius ? 

Cas. Let it be who it is : for Romans now so 

Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors ; 
But, woe the while ! our fathers' minds are dead, 
And we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits ; 
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish. 

Casca. Indeed, they say the senators to-morrow 
Mean to establish Caesar as a king ; 
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land, 
In every place, save here in Italy. 

Cas. I know where I will wear this dagger then ; 
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius : 90 

Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong ; 
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat : 
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, 
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, 
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit ; 
But life, being weary of these worldly bars, 
Never lacks power to dismiss itself. 
If I know this, know r all the world besides, 
That part of tyranny that I do bear 
I can shake off at pleasure. [Thunder still. 



26 JULIUS CJLSAR. [Act I. 

Casca. So can 1 : 100 

So every bondman in his own hand bears 
The power to cancel his captivity. 

Cas. And why should Csesar be a tyrant then? 
Poor man ! I know he would not be a wolf, 
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep : 
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. 
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire 
Begin it with weak straws : what trash is Rome, 
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves 
For the base matter to illuminate no 

So vile a thing as Csesar ! But, O grief, 
Where hast thou led me ? I perhaps speak this 
Before a willing bondman ; then I know 
My answer must be made. But I am arm'd, 
And dangers are to me indifferent. 

Casca. You speak to Casca, and to such a man 
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand : 
Be factious for redress of all these griefs, 
And I will set this foot of mine as far 
As who goes farthest. 

Cas. There 's a bargain made. 120 

Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already 
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans 
To undergo with me an enterprise 
Of honourable-dangerous consequence ; 
And I do know, by this, they stay for me 
In Pompey's porch : for now, this fearful night, 
There is no stir or walking in the streets ; 
And the complexion of the element 
In favour 's like the work we have in hand, 
Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. 130 

106. [hinds. A double sense of female deer, and menial 
servant.] 

125. [by this = by this time.] 



Scene III.] JULIUS CJESAR. 27 

Casca. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in 

haste. 
Cas. 'T is Cinna ; I do know him by his gait ; 
He is a friend. 

Enter Cinna. 
Cinna, where haste yon so ? 

Cin. To find out you. Who's that? Metellus 
Cimber ? 

Cas. No, it is Casca ; one incorporate 
To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna ? 

Cin. I am glad on 't. What a fearful night is this ! 
There 's two or three of us have seen strange sights. 

Cas. Am I not stay'd for ? tell me. 

Cin. Yes, you are. 

O Cassius, if you could 140 

But win the noble Brutus to our party — 

Cas. Be you content : good Cinna, take this paper, 
And look you lay it in the praetor's chair, 
Where Brutus may but find it ; and throw this 
In at his window ; set this up with wax 
Upon old Brutus' statue : all this done, 
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us. 
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there ? 

Cin. All but Metellus Cimber ; and he 's gone 
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, iso 

And so bestow these papers as you bade me. 

Cas. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre. 

[Exit Cinna. 
Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day 
See Brutus at his house : three parts of him 

146. [See Act I., Sc. 2, 1. 159.] 

148. Is Decius Brutus and, etc. Mere heedless writing ; 
not the "grammar" of Shakespeare's time. So in line 154, 
below, " three parts of him is," etc. 



28 • JULIUS CjESAR. [Act II. 

Is ours already, and the man entire 
Upon the next encounter yields him ours. 

Casca. O, he sits high in all the people's hearts : 
And that which would appear offence in us, 
His countenance, like richest alchemy, 
Will change to virtue and to worthiness. 160 

Cas. Him and his worth and our great need of him 
You have right well conceited. Let us go, 
For it is after midnight ; and ere day 
We will awake him and be sure of him. [Exeunt. 



ACT II. 

Scene I. Home. Brutus's orchard. 
Enter Brutus. 

Bru. What, Lucius, ho ! 
I cannot by the progress of the stars, 
Give guess how near to da}'. Lucius, I say ! 
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly. 
When, Lucius, when ? awake, I say ! what, Lucius ! 

Enter Lucius. 

Luc. Call'd you, my lord ? 

Bru. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius : 
When it is lighted, come and call me here. 

Luc. I will, my lord. [Exit. 

Bru. It must be by his death : and for my part, 10 
I know no personal cause to spurn at him, 
But for the general. He would be crown'd : 

159. [countenance = favor. Here again one may note the 
curious interchange in meaning in all these words, " face," 
" favor," " countenance." We use the last as a verb with similar 
significance.] 

5. When . . . when ? = Will you ever come ? — an ex- 
pression of impatience. 



Scene L] JULIUS CAESAR. 29 

How that might change his nature, there 's the ques- 
tion. 
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder ; 
And that craves wary walking. Crown him? — 

that ; — 
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, 
That at his will he may do danger with. 
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins 
Remorse from power : and, to speak truth of Caesar, 
I have not known when his affections sway'd 20 

More than his reason. But 't is a common proof, 
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, 
Whereto the climber upward turns his face ; 
But when he once attains the upmost round, 
He then unto the ladder turns his back, 
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
By which he did ascend. So Caesar may. 
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel 
Will bear no colour for the thing he is, 
Fashion it thus ; that what he is, augmented, 30 

Would run to these and these extremities : 
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg 
Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, 
And kill him in the shell. 

Be-enter Lucius. 
Luc. The taper burnetii in your closet, sir. 
Searching the window for a flint, I found 
This paper, thus seal'cl up ; and, I am sure, 
It did not lie there when I went to bed. 

[Gives him the letter. 

19. [Remorse = pity.] 

20. affections does not mean love, but prejudices, habits of 
mind, taste, feeling excited by a man's surroundings ; that which 
he affects and which affects him. 

21. [proof = experience.] 



30 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. 

Bru. Get you to bed again ; it is not clay. 
Is not to-morrow, boy, the first of March ? 40 

Luc. I know not, sir. 

Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word. 

Luc. I will, sir. [Exit. 

Bru. The exhalations whizzing in the air 
Give so much light that I may read by them. 

[Opens the letter and reads. 

" Brutus, thou sleep'st : awake, and see thyself. 
Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress ! 
Brutus, thou sleep'st : awake ! " 

Such instigations have been often dropp'd 

Where I have took them up. 50 

" Shall Rome, etc." Thus must I piece it out : 

Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, 

Rome ? 
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome 
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king. 
" Speak, strike, redress ! " Am I entreated 
To speak and strike ? O Rome, I make thee promise ; 
If the redress will follow, thou receivest 
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus ! 
Re-enter Lucius. 
Luc. Sir, March is wasted fifteen days. 

[Knocking within. 

40. first of March changed by Theobald (who has been fol- 
lowed hitherto) to " Ides of March," which is what Shakespeare 
should have written, but, according to all the evidence, did not 
write. 

59. fifteen days. So the folio, which Theobald, who has been 
followed hitherto, changed to " fourteen clays," because " this 
was the dawn of the 15th " (the Ides) ; which is true : but the 
error, like many others in these plays, is Shakespeare's. See the 
note on " the first of March," line 40. 



Scene I.] JULIUS C&SAR. 31 

Bru. 'T is good. Go to the gate ; somebody 
knocks. [Exit Lucius. 

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, ei 

I have not slept. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream : 
The Genius and the mortal instruments 
Are then in council ; and the state of man, 
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 
The nature of an insurrection. 

Re-enter Lucius. 

Luc. Sir, 't is your brother Cassius at the door, 70 
Who doth desire to see you. 

Bru. Is he alone ? 

Luc. No, sir, there are moe with him. 

Bru. Do you know them ? 

Luc. No, sir ; their hats are pluck'd' about their 
ears, 
And half their faces buried in their cloaks, 
That by no means I may discover them 
By any mark of favour. 

Bru. Let 'em enter. [Exit Lucius. 

They are the faction. O conspiracy, 
Sham'st thou to show thy dang'rous brow by night, 
When evils are most free ? O, then by day 
W^here wilt thou find a cavern dark enough so 

To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, con- 
spiracy ; 

66. The Genius, etc. — the controlling part of man, the 
rational soul and the bodily powers which are its instruments. 
70. [Cassius had married Iunia, the sister of Brutus.] 

72. moe = more. 

73. their hats are pluck'd, etc. Shakespeare here gives to 
Romans of the time of Julius Caesar the costume of Englishmen 
in the reign of Elizabeth. 



32 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. 

Hide it in smiles and affability : 

For if thou path, thy native semblance on, 

Not Erebus itself were dim enough 

To hide thee from prevention. 

Enter the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus 
Cimber, and Trebonius. 

Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest : 
Good morrow, Brutus ; do we trouble you ? 

Bru. I have been up this hour, awake all night. 
Know I these men that come along with you ? 

Cas. Yes, every man of them, and no man here 90 
But honours you ; and every one doth wish 
You had but that opinion of yourself 
Which every noble Roman bears of you. 
This is Trebonius. 

Bru. He is welcome hither. 

Cas. This, Decius Brutus. 

Bm. He is welcome too. 

Cas. This, Casca ; this, Cinna ; and this, Metellus 
Cimber. 

Bru. They are all welcome. 
What watchful cares do interpose themselves 
Betwixt your eyes and night ? 99 

Cas. Shall I entreat a Word ? [Brutus and Cassius whisper. 

Dec. Here lies the east : doth not the day break 
here ? 

Casca. No. 

Cin. O, pardon, sir, it doth ; and yon gray lines 
That fret the clouds are messengers of day. 

Casca. You shall confess that you are both deceiv'd. 
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises, 
Which is a great way growing on the south, 

83. [path: here used as a verb.] 

89. [It will be remembered that they are all disguised.] 



Scene L] JULIUS CJ5SAR. 33 

Weighing the youthful season of the year. 
Some two months hence up higher toward the north 
He first presents his fire ; and the high east no 

Stands, as the Capitol, directly here. 

Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by one. 

Cas. And let us swear our resolution. 

Bru. No, not an oath : if not the face of men, 
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 
If these be motives weak, break off betimes, 
And every man hence to his idle bed ; 
So let high-sighted tyranny range on, 
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, 
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough 120 

To kindle cowards and to steel with valour 
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen, 
What need we any spur but our own cause, 
To prick us to redress ? what other bond 
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, 
And will not palter ? and what other oath 
Than honesty to honesty engag'd, 
That this shall be, or we will fall for it? 
Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous, 
Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls 130 

That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear 
Such creatures as men doubt ; but do not stain 
The even virtue of our enterprise, 
Nor th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits, 
To think that or our cause or our performance 
Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood 

115. [sufferance = suffering.] 

118. [high-sighted = supercilious.] 

119. [lottery, i. e. drop as in some game of chance.] 
129. cautelous = wily, crafty, exceedingly cautious. 

131. That welcome wrongs = as welcome wrongs : the con- 
verse of the use of " as " as " that." 



34 JULIUS CjESAR. [ActIL 

That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, 

Is guilty of a several bastardy, 

If lie do break the smallest particle 

Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. 140 

Cas. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him ? 
I think he will stand very strong with us. 

Casca. Let us not leave him out. 

Ci?i. No, by no means. 

Met. O, let us have him, for his silver hairs 
Will purchase us a good opinion 
And buy men's voices to commend our deeds : 
It shall be said, his judgement rul'd our hands ; 
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear, 
But all be buried in his gravity. 149 

Bru. O, name him not : let us not break with him ; 
For he will never follow any thing 
That other men begin. 

Cas. Then leave him out. 

Casca. Indeed he is not fit. 

Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Caesar ? 

Cas. Decius, well urg'd : I think it is not meet, 
Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Caesar, 
Should outlive Caesar : we shall find of him 
A shrewd contriver ; and, you know, his means, 
If he improve them, may well stretch so far 
As to annoy us all : which to prevent, 160 

Let Antony and Caesar fall together. 

Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, 
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, 
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards ; 

150. break -with him = open our secret to him; we still say, 
" to break bad news." 

164. envy afterwards = hatred, etc. ; so below, line 178, 
envious = malicious, vengeful. 



Scene I.] JULIUS CjESAR. 35 

For Antony is but a limb of Caesar : 

Let ns be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. 

We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar ; 

And in the spirit of men there is no blood : 

O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, 

And not dismember Caesar ! But, alas, no 

Caesar must bleed for it ! And, gentle friends, 

Let 's kill him boldly, but not wrathf ully ; 

Let 's carve him as a dish fit for the gods, 

Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds : 

And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, 

Stir up their servants to an act of rage, 

And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make 

Our purpose necessary and not envious : 

Which so appearing to the common eyes, 

We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers. iso 

And for Mark Antony, think not of him ; 

For he can do no more than Caesar's arm 

When Caesar's head is off. 

Cas. Yet I fear him ; 

For in the ingrafted love he bears to Caesar — 

Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him : 
If he love Caesar, all that he can do 
Is to himself, take thought and die for Caesar : 
And that were much he should ; for he is given 
To sports, to wildness and much company. 

Treb. There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; wo 
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. 

[Clock strikes. 

Bru. Peace! count the clock. 

Cas. The clock hath stricken three. 

183. [Here, as often in Shakespeare, the full measure of the 
line is made up by a pause which precedes Cassius's speech.] 

192. The clock hath stricken. A great but unimportant 
anachronism. 



36 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. 

Treb. 'T is time to part. 

Cas. But it is doubtful yet, 

Whether Caesar will come forth to-clay, or no ; 
For he is superstitious grown of late, 
Quite from the main opinion he held once 
Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies : 
It may be, these apparent prodigies, 
The unaccustom'd terror of this night, 
And the persuasion of his augurers, 200 

May hold him from the Capitol to-day. 

Dec. Never fear that : if he be so resolv'd, 
I can o'ersway him ; for he loves to hear 
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees, 
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, 
Lions with toils and men with flatterers ; 
But when I tell him he hates flatterers, 
He says he does, being then most flattered. 
Let me work ; 

For I can give his humour the true bent, 210 

And I will bring him to the Capitol. 

Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. 

Bru. By the eighth hour : is that the uttermost ? 

Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. 

Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard, 
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey : 
I wonder none of you have thought of him. 

Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him : 

197. ceremonies = religious ceremonies. 

204. That unicorns, etc. It was believed that unicorns were 
captured by leading them to chase a man, who sprang behind a 
ree when the monster was in full career, leaving the unicorn to 
hrust his horn so far into the tree that lie could neither escape 
tor defend himself ; also that bears would stand still and be shot 
virile they looked at themselves in mirrors. Elephants are taken 
n pitfalls. 

218. [go along by him = call at his house in going home. A 



Scene L] JULIUS CAESAR. 37 

He loves me well, and I have given him reasons ; 
Send him but hither, and I '11 fashion him. 220 

Cas. The morning comes upon 's : we '11 leave you, 
Brutus. 
And, friends, disperse yourselves ; but all remember 
What you have said, and show yourselves true Ro- 
mans. 
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily ; 
Let not our looks put on our purposes, 
But bear it as our Roman actors do, 
With untir'd spirits and formal constancy : 
And so good morrow to you every one. 

[Exeunt all but Brutus. 
Boy ! Lucius ! Fast asleep ? It is no matter ; 
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber : 230 

Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, 
Which busy care draws in the brains of men : 
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound. 
Enter Portia. 
Por. Brutus, my lord ! 

Bru. Portia, what mean you ? wherefore rise you 
now ? 
It is not for your health thus to commit 
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning:. 

Pot. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, 
Brutus, 
Stole from my bed : and yesternight, at supper, 
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about, 
Musing and sighing, with your arms across, 240 

somewhat similar expression may be heard in the southwest, in 
the expression, " come by " ; that is, " come in as you go by."] 

219. [I have given him reasons. Our phrase would be, " I 
have given him reason to love me."] 

226. [bear it. We come near to the use when we say " he 
bears himself well."] 

231. [figures == ideas or imaginations.] 



38 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act II. 

And when I ask'd you what the matter was, 

You star'd upon me with ungentle looks ; 

I urg'd you further ; then you scratch'd your head, 

And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot ; 

Yet I insisted ; yet you answer'd not, 

But, with an angry wafture of your hand, 

Gave sign for me to leave you : so I did ; 

Fearing to strengthen that inrpatience 

Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal 

Hoping it was but an effect of humour, 250 

Which sometime hath his hour with every man. 

It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep, 

And could it work so much upon your shape 

As it hath much prevail'd on your condition, 

I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord, 

Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. 

Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. 

Par. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health, 
He would embrace the means to come by it. 

Bru. Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed. 260 

Por. Is Brutus sick ? and is it physical 
To walk unbrac'd and suck up the humours 
Of the dank morning ? What, is Brutus sick, 
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, 
To dare the vile contagion of the night 
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air 
To add unto his sickness ? No, my Brutus ; 
You have some sick offence within your mind, 

250. [humour = caprice.] 

261. physical = medicinal, remedial. 

262. [humours = moisture. The old medical use of the word, 
which regarded the body as containing four humors, whose ex- 
cess or diminution affected both the body and the temperament, 
passed over into common speech and gave this word wide usage 
and considerable range.] 



Scene I.] JULIUS CjESAR. 39 

Which, by the right and virtue of my place, 

I ought to know of : and, upon my knees, 270 

I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, 

By all your vows of love and that great vow 

Which did incorporate and make us one, 

That you unfold to me, yourself, your half, 

Why you are heavy, and what men to-night 

Have had resort to you : for here have been 

Some six or seven, who did hide their faces 

Even from darkness. 

Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. 

Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. 
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, 280 

Is it excepted I should know no secrets 
That appertain to you ? Am I yourself 
But, as it were, in sort or limitation, 
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, 
And talk to you sometimes ? Dwell I but in the 

suburbs 
Of your good pleasure ? If it be no more, 
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. 

Bru. You are my true and honourable wife, 
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops 
That visit my sad heart. 290 

Por. If this were true, then should I know this 
secret. 
I grant I am a woman ; but withal 
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife : 
I grant I am a woman ; but withal 

271. charm you, etc. = conjure you in the name of, etc. 

280. [Within = in. Is there any clause in the bond of mar- 
riage which makes an exception ?] 

285. [suburbs. Something more is hinted at than mere 
distance from the city or centre, for the term was synonymous 
with resorts for disorderly people.] 



40 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act II. 

A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. 

Think you I am no stronger than my sex, 

Being so f ather'd and so husbanded ? 

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em : 

I have made strong proof of my constancy, 

Giving myself a voluntary wound 300 

Here, in the thigh : can I bear that with patience, 

And not my husband's secrets ? 

Bru. O ye gods, 

Render me worthy of this noble wife ! [Knocking within. 
Hark, hark ! one knocks : Portia, go in awhile ; 
And by and by thy bosom shall partake 
The secrets of my heart. 
All my engagements I will construe to thee, 
All the charactery of my sad brows : 
Leave me with haste. \_Exit Portia.] Lucius, who 's 
that knocks ? 

Re-enter Lucius with Ligarius. 

Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with 
you. 310 

Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. 
Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius ! how ? 

Llg. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. 

Bru. O, what a time have you chose out, brave 
Caius, 
To wear a kerchief ! Would you were not sick ! 

305. [by and by. The present use of this phrase puts off 
an event ; the old use made it near, for here the meaning is 
" presently." Compare the passage in the King James Version 
of the Bible, in which Herodias says : " I will that thou give 
me, by and by, in a charger, the head of John the Baptist." 
The Revised Version substitutes " forthwith."] 

307. [engagements = enterprises, construe = make clear. 

315. [kerchief. Compare in the matter of formation of the 
word, curfew.'] 



Scene II.] JULIUS C^SAR. 41 

Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand 
Any exploit worthy the name of honour. 

Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, 
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. 

Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, 320 
I here discard my sickness ! Soid of Rome ! 
Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins! 
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up 
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, 
And I will strive with things impossible ; 
Yea, get the better of them. What 's to do ? 

Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men 
whole. 

Lig. But are not some whole that we must make 
sick ? 

Bru, That must we also. What it is, my Caius, 
I shall unfold to thee, as we are going 330 

To whom it must be done. 

Lig. Set on your foot, 

And with a heart new-fir'd I follow you, 
To do I know not what : but it sufficeth 
That Brutus leads me on. 

Bru. Follow me, then. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. Cesar's house. 

Thunder and lightning. Enter Cesar, in his night-gown. 

Cces. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace 
to-night : 
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, 

321. [On the stage Ligarius would at this snatch off his ban- 
dage.] 

331. [Set on your foot = go forward.] 
his night-gown = dressing-gown. 



42 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act II. 

" Help ! ho ! they murther Caesar ! " Who 's with- 
in? 

Enter a Servant. 
Serv. My lord ? 

Cms. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice 
And bring me their opinions of success. 

Serv. I will, my lord. [Exit. 

Enter Calpurnia. 

Cat. What mean you, Caesar? think you to walk 
forth? 
You sli all not stir out of your house to-day. 

Cobs. Caesar shall forth : the things that threaten'd 
me 10 

Ne'er look'd but on my back ; when they shall see 
The face of Caesar, they are vanished. 

Col. Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, 
Yet now they fright me. There is one within, 
Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. 
A lioness hath whelped in the streets ; 
And graves have }^awn'd, and yielded up their dead ; 
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, 
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 20 

Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol ; 
The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan, 
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. 

3. [Murther. No doubt the exchange of " th " for " d " is in 
part due to defective vocal organisms in many, and worked 
both ways, as when one hears " furder " for " further."] 

13. [Stood = insisted. Compare the Shakespearean phrase 
to stand on ceremony, where " ceremony " = " civil etiquette."] 
ceremonies = religious observances ; here loosely used for 
auguries, omens. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 43 

O Caesar ! these things are beyond all use, 
And I do fear them. 

Cms. What can be avoided 

Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods ? 
Yet Caesar shall go forth ; for these predictions 
Are to the world in general as to Caesar. 

Cat. When beggars die, there are no comets 
seen ; 30 

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of 
princes. 

Cms. Cowards die many times before their deaths ; 
The valiant never taste of death bat once. 
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 
It seems to me most strange that men should fear ; 
Seeing that death, a necessary end, 
Will come when it will come. 

He-enter Servant. 

What say the augurers ! 

Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. 
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, 
They could not find a heart within the beast. 40 

Cms. The gods do this in shame of cowardice : 
Caesar should be a beast without a heart, 
If he should stay at home to-day for fear. 
No, Caesar shall not : danger knows full well 
That Caesar is more dangerous than he : 
We are two lions litter'd in one day, 
And I the elder and more terrible : 
And Caesar shall go forth. 

Cal. Alas, my lord, 

Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. 
Do not go forth to-day : call it my fear 50 

That keeps you in the house, and not your own. 
25. beyond all use : very unusual, unnatural, abnormal. 



44 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. 

We '11 send Mark Antony to the senate-house ; 
And he shall say you are not well to-day : 
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this. 

Cces. Mark Antony shall say I am not well ; 
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home. 
Enter Decius. 

Here 's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. 

Dec. Caesar, all hail ! good morrow, worthy Caesar : 
I come to fetch you to the senate-house. 

Cces. And you are come in very happy time, 60 

To bear my greetings to the senators 
And tell them that I will not come to-day : 
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser : 
I will not come to-day : tell them so, Decius. 

Cal. Say he is sick. 

Cces. Shall Caesar send a lie ? 

Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, 
To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth ? 
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come. 

Dec. Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause, 
Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so. 70 

Cces. The cause is in my will : I will not come ; 
That is enough to satisfy the senate. 
But for your private satisfaction, 
Because I love you, I will let you know : 
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home : 
She dreamt to-night she saw my statua, 
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, 
Did run pure blood ; and many lusty Romans 
Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it : 
And these does she apply for warnings, and portents, so 
And evils imminent ; and on her knee 
Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day. 

80. [portents. The rhythm shows the accent.] 



Scene II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 45 

Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted ; 
It was a vision fair and fortunate : 
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 
In which so many smiling Romans bath'd, 
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck 
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press 
For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance. 
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified. 90 

Gees. And this way have you well expounded it. 

Dec. I have, when you have heard what I can say : 
And know it now : the senate have concluded 
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. 
If you shall send them word you will not come, 
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock 
Apt to be render'd, for some one to say 
Break up the senate till another time, 
When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams. 
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper 100 

Lo, Caesar is afraid ? 

Pardon me, Caesar ; for my dear dear love 
To your proceeding bids me tell you this ; 
And reason to my love is liable. 

Cces. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpur- 

nia! 

I am ashamed I did yield to them. 

Give me my robe, for I will go. 

Enter Publius, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, Trebonius, 
and Cinna. 

And look where Publius is come to fetch me. 

Pub. Good morrow, Caesar. 

Cces. Welcome, Publius. 

89. [By dipping their handkerchiefs in the blood, as they 
crowd about, will get remedial dyes, cognizance = souvenirs.] 
97. [mock apt to be render'd = sneer fit to be told.] 
104. [liable = subject.] 



46 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act II. 

What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too ? no 

Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, 

Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy 

As that same ague which hath made you lean. 

What is 't o'clock? 

Bru. Caesar, 't is strucken eight. 

Cces. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. 
Enter Antony. 
See ! Antony, that revels long o' nights, 
Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony. 

Ant. So to most noble Caesar. 

Cces. Bid them prepare within : 

I am to blame to be thus waited for. 
Now, China : now, Metellus : what, Trebonius ! 120 
I have an hour's talk in store for you ; 
Remember that you call on me to-day : 
Be near me, that I may remember you. 

Treb. Caesar, I will : [Aside'] and so near will I be, 
That your best friends shall wish I had been further. 

Cces. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with 
me ; 
And we, like friends, will straightway go together. 

Bru. [Aside.] That every like is not the same, O 
Caesar, 
The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon ! [Exeunt. 

Scene III. A street near the Capitol. 

Enter Artemidorus , reading a paper. 

Art. Caesar, beware of Brutus ; take heed of Cassius ; 

come not near Casca ; have an eye to Cinna ; trust not 

Trebonius ; mark well Metellus Cimber : Decius Brutus 

128. [Caesar says "like friends," and Brutus catches up the 
word and is distressed as he considers that, though " like " usu- 
ally means " the same as," every " like " does not mean that.] 



Scene IV.] JULIUS CAESAR. 47 

loves thee not : thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There 
is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against 
Caesar. If thou beest not immortal, look about you : se- 
curity gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend 
thee ! Thy lover, Artemidorus. 

Here will I stand till Caesar pass along, 

And as a suitor will I give him this. 10 

My heart laments that virtue cannot live 

Out of the teeth of emulation. 

If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live ; 

If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. [Exit. 

Scene IV. Another part of the same street, before the 
house of Brutus. 
Enter Portia and Lucius. 
JPor. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house ; 
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone : 
Why dost thou stay ? 

Luc. To know my errand, madam. 

Por. I would have had thee there, and here again, 
Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there. 

constancy, be strong upon my side, 

Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue ! 

1 have a man's mind, but a woman's might. 
How hard it is for women to keep counsel ! 
Art thou here yet ? 

Luc. Madam, what should I do ? 10 

Run to the Capitol, and nothing else ? 
And so return to you, and nothing else ? 

Por. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, 
For he went sickly forth : and take good note 
What Caesar doth, what suitors press to him. 
Hark, boy ! what noise is that ? 

12. [Out of = beyond the reach of.] 



48 JULIUS C^SAR. [Act II. 

Luc. I hear none, madam. 

Por. Prithee, listen well ; 

I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray, 
And the wind brings it from the Capitol. 

Luc. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing. 20 

Enter the Soothsayer. 

Por. Come hither, fellow : which way hast thou 
been ? 

Sooth. At mine own house, good lady. 

Por. What is 't o'clock ? 

Sooth. About the ninth hour, lady. 

Por. Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol? 

Sooth. Madam, not yet : I go to take my stand, 
To see him pass on to the Capitol. 

Por. Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou not ? 

Sooth. That I have, lady : if it will please Caesar 
To be so good to Caesar as to hear me, 
I shall beseech him to befriend himself. 30 

Por. Why, know'st thou any harm 's intended to- 
wards him ? 

Sooth. None that I know will be, much that I fear 
may chance. 
Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow : 
The throng that follows Caesar at the heels, 
Of senators, of praetors, common suitors, 
Will crowd a feeble man almost to death : 
I '11 get me to a place more void, and there 
Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. [Exit. 

Por. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing 
The heart of woman is ! O Brutus, 40 

Enter the Soothsayer. The folio stage direction brings the 
Soothsayer on probably by mistake. The person whom Portia 
addresses seems to be Artemidorus, on his way from where we 
last saw him to a more convenient place. 



Scene L] JULIUS CJESAR. 49 

The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise ! 

[To herself. ~\ Sure, the boy heard me : \_To Lucius] 

Brutus hath a suit 
That Caesar will not grant. O, I grow faint. 
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord ; 
Say I am merry : come to me again, 
And bring me a word what he doth say to thee. 

[Exeunt severally, 

ACT III. 

Scene I. Rome. Before the Capitol. 

A crowd of people ; among them Artemidorus and the Soothsayer. 
Flourish. Enter Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Me- 
tellus, Trebonius, Cinna, Antony, Lepidus, Popilius, Pub- 
lius, and others. 

Cces. [ To the Soothsayer.] The ides of March are 
come. 

Sooth. Ay, Caesar ; but not gone. 

Art. Hail, Caesar ! read this schedule. 

Dec. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, 
At your best leisure, this his humble suit. 

Art. O Caesar, read mine first ; for mine 's a suit 
That touches Caesar nearer : read it, great Caesar. 

Cces. ( What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd. 

Art. Delay not, Caesar ; read it instantly. 

Cces. What, is the fellow mad? 

Pub. Sirrah, give place. 

Cats. What, urge you your petitions in the street ? 
Come to the Capitol. 12 

Scene changes to the Senate-House, the Senate sitting. Enter Cesar 
with his train, the consjxirators, and others. 

Pop. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive. 

4. [O'er-read = read over ; overlook was used in the same 
sense.] 
Scene I. Scene changes, etc. In the folio there is as usual no 



50 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act III. 

Cas. What enterprise, Popilius ? 

Pop. Fare you well. 

[Advances to Ccesar. 

Bru. What said Popilius Lena ? 

Cas. He wish'd to-day our enterprise might thrive. 
I fear our purpose is discovered. 

Bru. Look, how he makes to Caesar: mark him. 

Cas. Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention. 
Brutus, what shall be done ? If this be known, 20 
Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back, 
For I will slay myself. 

Bru. Cassius, be constant : 

Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes ; 
For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change. 

Cas. Trebonius knows his time ; for, look you, 
Brutus, 
He draws Mark Antony out of the way. 

[Exeunt Antony and Trebonius. 

indication of the place where the action of this scene is sup- 
posed to pass, but merely " Flourish. Enter Ccesar, Brutus" etc., 
etc. At line 12, " Come to the Capitol," there is no stage di- 
rection at all, but the dialogue runs straight on with Popilius's 
remark to Cassius. This is the result of the lack of scenic appa- 
ratus on our old stage : the audience were to imagine a change to 
the Senate-House. After " Come to the Capitol " it has been 
the custom to give a stage direction " Ccesar enters the Capitol ," 
or words to like effect, always implying what it would be impos- 
sible to represent. Plainly there should be a new scene here, 
as Shakespeare imagined. But in deference to a long-established 
division, and to avoid inconvenience in reference, I do not disturb 
the old arrangement. In fact, according to Plutarch, Caesar was 
not killed in the Capitol, but in the curia of Pompey, where the 
Senate was assembled on the 15th (or Ides) of March. 

19. prevention : an example of the use of this word both in 
its original sense of going before and in its modern sense of hin- 
drance. In line 35 we have "prevent" used markedly in the 
modern sense. 



Scene I.] JULIUS C^SAR. 51 

Dec. Where is Metellus Cimber ? Let him go, 
And presently prefer his suit to Caesar. 

Bra. He is address'd : press near and second him. 
Cm. Casca, you are the first that rears your hand. 
Casca. Are we all ready ? 
q^ What is now amiss 

That Caesar and his senate must redress? 

Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant 
Caesar, 
Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 

An humble heart, — lne€ 

Q ms . I must prevent thee, Cimber. 

( These couchings and these lowly courtesies 

( Might fire the blood of ordinary men,y 
And turn pre-ordinance and first decree 
Into the law of children. Be not fond, 
To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood 

/That will be thaw'd from the true quality 

( With that which melteth fools ; I mean, sweet words, 
Low-crooked court'sies and base spaniel-fawningy 
Thy brother by decree is banished : 
If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, 
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way./ 
Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 
Will he be satisfied. 

Met. Is there no voice more worthy than my own, 

29. address'd = made ready. 

30. [China is reminding Casca that by their agreement Casca 
is to deal the first blow.] 

36. couchings = crouchings, as possibly Shakespeare wrote. 

39 Into the law of children : that is, so excite pride and 
ambition as to make that which was established originally for a 
specific purpose and an individual, hereditary ; tempt to the set- 
ting up of kingly rank and a royal family, before whom subjects 
must bow. fond = foolish. 



52 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act III. 

To sound more sweetly in great Caesar's ear 50 

For the repealing of my banish 'd brother ? 

Bru. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar ; 
Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may 
Have an immediate freedom of repeal. 

Cobs. What, Brutus ! 

Gets. Pardon, Csesar ; Csesar, pardon : 

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, 
To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber. 

Cobs. I could be well mov'd, if I were as you : 
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me : > 
But I am constant as the northern star, / co 

Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality 
There is no fellow in the firmament. 
The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks, 
They are all fire and every one doth shine ; 
But there 's but one in all doth hold his place : 
So in the world: 't is furnish 'd well with men, 
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive ; 
Yet in the number I do know but one 
That unassailable holds on his rank, 
Unshak'd of motion : and that I am he, 70 

Let me a little show it, even in this ; 
That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd, 
And constant do remain to keep him so. 

Gin. O Caesar, — 

Gees. Hence ! wilt thou lift up Olympus ? 

Dec. Great Caesar, — 

Gees. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel ? 

Casca. Speak, hands, for me ! 

[Casca and the other Conspirators stab Caesar. 

Gees. Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar! PW» 

51. [repealing = recalling from exile.] 

77. Et tu, Brute = And thou, Brutus ! — There is no record of 



Scene L] JULIUS CjESAR. 53 

Gin. Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead ! 
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. 

Caesar's having uttered these words, which have been put into 
his mouth by we know not whom. But Suetonius tells us that 
the dictator, who at first strove with his assassins, seeing Brutus 
rush upon him, uttered the touching exclamation, ncd <rv, tskuou = 
And thou, my son ! and covered his face. But it seems very 
doubtful that the murdered Caesar uttered this Greek phrase 
with his dying lips. Thus bestead, and in that extremity, the 
author of the Commentaries, the writer of the most idiomatic lit- 
erary Latin that has come down to us, would surely have used, 
intuitively and unconsciously, his mother tongue. Suetonius 
wrote about one hundred and seventy-five years after the death 
of Caesar, and he records this exclamation merely upon tradi- 
tion (" Etsi tradiderunt quidam ") ; the origin of which was, it is 
most likely, the notion that got abroad that Marcus Brutus the 
younger was the son of Caesar by Servilia, the wife of Marcus 
Junius Brutus the elder. But although Caesar enjoyed the fa- 
vors of Servilia, it must have been after the birth of Marcus 
Brutus the younger, who was only fifteen years his junior. The 
whole story probably grew out of Caesar's well-known relations 
with Servilia, and her prayer to him to spare her only son at the 
battle of Pharsalia, which caused Caesar to give orders before 
the fight that no one should kill Marcus Brutus. Hence, too, 
the mistaken notion that it was Marcus, instead of Decimus, who 
was Caesar's favorite. This base and purely vindictive assassi- 
nation of the greatest, noblest, largest-natured man known to his- 
tory has been made the subject of an ingenious investigation on 
its physical side by a French savant, M. Dubois, who read a pa- 
per upon it before the Academy of Medicine of Paris. He be- 
lieves that by a careful collection and comparison of all accessible 
authorities, he has fixed the spots where the first four wounds 
were inflicted and the names of the conspirators who gave them. 
The first, by one of the Cascas, was under the left collar-bone, and 
slight ; the second, by the other Casca, pierced the chest on the 
right ; Cassius gave the third, in the face ; Decimus Brutus the 
fourth, in the groin. Contrary to general opinion, Marcus Bru- 
tus did not strike. Upon these blows Caesar fainted and fell, 
and then the conspirators hacked his body. He was borne by 
three slaves to his house. The physician Antistius, who was 



( 



54 JULIUS CESAR. [ActIIL 

Cas. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out so 
" Libert} 7 , freedom, and enfranchisement ! " 

Bru. People and senators, be not affrighted ; 
Fly not ; stand still : ambition's debt is paid. 

Casca. Go to the pulpit, Brutus. 

Dec. And Cassius too. 

Bru. Where 's Publius ? 

Gin. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny. 

Met. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar's 
Should chance — 

Bru. Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer; 
There is no harm intended to your person, 90 

Nor to no Roman else : so tell them, Publius. 

Cas. And leave us, Publius ; lest that the people, 
Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief. 

Bru. Do so : and let no man abide this deed, 
But we the doers. 

Re-enter Trebonius. 

Cas. Where is Antony? 

Treb. Fled to his house amaz'd : 
Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run 
As it w r ere doomsday. 

Bru. Fates, we will know your pleasures: 

That we shall die, we know ; 't is but the time 
And drawing days out, that men stand upon. ) 100 

Cas. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life 
Cuts off so many years of fearing death./ 

Bru. Grant that, and then is death a benefit : 

called, found thirty-five wounds (Suetonius says three and 
twenty), only one of which was surely mortal, — that of the 
second Casca. 

80. [pulpits. Here the rostra of ancient Rome, or platforms 
for the use of public orators.] 

86. [confounded = amazed.] 

100. [drawing = lengthening.] 



Scene I.] JULIUS CjESAR. 55 

So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridg'd 

His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop, 

And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood 

Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords : 

Then walk we forth, even to the market-place, 

And, waving onr red weapons o'er our heads, 

Let 's all cry Peace, freedom and liberty ! no 

Cas. Stoop, then, and wash/ How many ages hence 
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over 
In states unborn and accents yet unknown ! j 

Bru. How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, 
'That now on Pompey's basis lies along 
No worthier than the dust ! 

Q aSm So oft as that shall be, 

So often shall the knot of us be call'd 
The men that gave their country liberty. 

Dec. What, shall we forth ? 

Cas. Ay, every man away : 

Brutus shall lead ; and we will grace his heels 120 

With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. 

Enter a Servant. 

Bru. Soft ! who comes here ? A friend of Antony's. 

Sew. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel ; 
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down ; 
And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say : 
Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest ; 
Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving : 
Say I love Brutus, and I honour him ; 
Say I fear'd Caesar, honour'd him and lov'd him. 
If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony 130 

May safely come to him, and be resolv'd 
How Caesar hath deserv'd to lie in death, 

119. [What is sometimes used as here, where in modern times 
one would use " well."] 



56 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. 

Mark Antony shall not love Csesar dead 

So well as Brutus living ; but will follow 

The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus 

Thorough the hazards of this untrod state 

With all true faith. So says my master Antony. 

Bru. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman ; 
I never thought him worse. 

Tell him, so please him come unto this place, mo 

He shall be satisfied ; and, by my honour, 
Depart untouch'd. 

Serv. I '11 fetch him presently. [Exit. 

Bru. I know that we shall have him well to friend. 

Cas. I wish we may : but yet have I a mind 
That fears him much ; and my misgiving still 
Falls shrewdly to the purpose. 

Bru. But here comes Antony. 
Re-enter Antony. 

Welcome, Mark Antony. 

Ant. O mighty Caesar ! dost thou lie so low? 
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 
Shrunk to this little measure ? Fare thee well. 150 
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, 
W T ho else must be let blood, who else is rank : 
If I myself, there is no hour so fit 
As CaBsar's death hour, nor no instrument 
Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich 
With the most noble blood of all this world. 
I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard, 
Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke, 

139. [worse = less worth.] 
141. [satisfied, see resolv'd, 1. 131.] 

143. to friend = for a friend ; as, in " he took Sarah to wife : " 
" they had mutton to dinner." 

146. [shrewdly = in a high degree.] 

152. rank = grown up too thrifty, high and strong. 



Scene I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 57 

Fulfil your pleasure. \ Live a thousand years, 

I shall not find myself so apt to die : i6o 

No place will please me so, no mean of death, 

As here by Caesar, and by you cut off, 

The choice and master spirits of this age. 

Bru. O Antony, beg not your death of us. 
Though now we must appear bloody and cruel, 
As, by our hands and this our present act, 
You see we do, yet see you but our hands 
And this the bleeding business they have done : 
Our hearts you see not ; they are pitiful ; 
And pity to the general wrong of Rome — 170 

As fire drives out fire, so pity pity — 
Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part, 
To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony : 
Our arms, in strength of malice, and our hearts 
Of brothers' temper, do receive you in 
With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence. 

Cas. Your voice shall be as strong as any man's 
In the disposing of new dignities. 

Bru. Only be patient till we have appeas'd 
The multitude, beside themselves with fear, iso 

And then we will deliver you the cause, 
Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him, 
Have thus proceeded. 

Ant. I doubt not of your wisdom. 

Let each man render me his bloody hand : 
First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ; 
Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand ; 

160. [apt to die = ready for death.] 

161. [mean = means.] 

174. in strength of malice = in the intensity of hate which 
led to this deed. But the passage is somewhat incongruous, and 
may be corrupt. 



58 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act III. 

Now, Decius Brutus, yours ; now yours, Metellus ; 

Yours, China ; and, my valiant Casca, yours ; 

Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius. 

Gentlemen all, — alas, what shall I say ? 190 

My credit now stands on such slippery ground, 

That one of two bad ways you must conceit me, 

Either a coward or a flatterer. 

That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 't is true : 

If then thy spirit look upon us now, 

Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death, 

To see thy Antony making his peace, 

Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes, 

Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ? 

Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, 200 

Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, 

It would become me better than to close 

In terms of friendship with thine enemies. 

Pardon me, Julius ! Here wast thou bay'd, brave 

hart ; 
Here didst thou fall ; and here thy hunters stand, 
Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy lethe. 
O world, thou wast the forest to this hart ; 
And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee. 
How like a deer, strucken by many princes, 
Dost thou here lie ! 210 

Cas. Mark Antony, — 

Ant. Pardon me, Caius Cassius : 

The enemies of Caesar shall say this ; 
Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty. 

192. [conceit = conceive one to be.] 

206. thy lethe = the stream that bears thee into the next 
world. Shakespeare had not a very clear notion of the river 
Lethe. [Yet some take lethe to be an obsolete word for 
" death," and instance the derivation " lethal " in support of this.] 



Scene L] JULIUS CMSAR. 59 

Cas. I blame you not for praising Caesar so ; 
But what compact mean you to have with us ? 
Will you be prick'd in number of our friends ; 
Or shall we on, and not depend on you ? 

Ant. Therefore I took your hands, but was, in- 
deed, 
Sway'd from the point, by looking down on Caesar. 
Friends am I with you all and love you all, 220 

Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons 
Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous. 

Bru. Or else were this a savage spectacle : 
Our reasons are so full of good regard 
That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, 
You should be satisfied. 

Ant. That 's all I seek : 

And am moreover suitor that I may 
Produce his body to the market-place ; 
And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, 
Speak in the order of his funeral. 230 

Bru. You shall, Mark Antony. 

Cas. Brutus, a word with you. 

[Aside to Bru.~\ You know not what you do : do not 

consent 
That Antony speak in his funeral : 
Know you how much the people may be mov'd 
By that which he will utter ? 

Bru. By your pardon ; 

I will myself into the pulpit first, 
And show the reason of our Caesar's death : 
What Antony shall speak, I will protest 
He speaks by leave and by permission, 
And that we are contented Caesar shall 240 

216. prick'd = checked, marked off. 
230. [order = course.] 



60 JULIUS CESAR. [Act III. 

Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies. 
It shall advantage more than do us wrong, 

Cas. I know not what may fall ; I like it not. 

Bru. Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body. 
You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, 
But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, 
And say you do 't by our permission ; 
Else shall you not have any hand at all 
About his funeral : and you shall speak 
In the same pulpit whereto I am going, 250 

After my speech is ended. 

Ant. Be it so ; 

I do desire no more. 

Bru. Prepare the body then, and follow us. 

[Exeunt all but Antony. 

Ant. O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! 
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 
That ever lived in the tide of times. 
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood ! 
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy, — 
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips, 260 
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue — 
A curse shall light u])on the limbs of men ; 
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife 
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy ; 
Blood and destruction shall be so in use 
And dreadful objects so familiar 
That mothers shall but smile when they behold 
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war ; 
All pity chok'd with custom of fell deeds : 

262. limbs of men : an unsatisfactory passage. It has been 
conjectured that Shakespeare wrote " the kind," " the line," 
"the lives," "the loins," "the tombs," or "the sons " of men ; 
but the old text is probably correct. 



Scene L] JULIUS CjESAR. 61 

And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, 270 

With Ate by his side come hot from hell, 
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice 
Cry " Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war ; 
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 
With carrion men, groaning for burial. 

Enter a Servant. 

You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not ? 

Serv. I do, Mark Antony. 

Ant. Caesar did write for him to come to Rome. 

Serv. He did receive his letters, and is coming ; 
And bid me say to you by word of mouth — 280 

O Caesar ! [Seeing the body. 

Ant. Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep. 
Passion, I see, is catching ; for mine eyes, 
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine, 
Began to water. Is thy master coming? 

Serv. He lies to-night within seven leagues of 
Rome. 

Ant. Post back with speed, and tell him what hath 
chanc'd : 
Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, 
No Rome of safety for Octavius yet ; 
Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet, stay awhile ; 290 

Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse 
Into the market-place : there shall I try, 
In my oration, how the people take 
The cruel issue of these bloody men ; 

271. Ate was the goddess of discord. 

273. [Sir William Blaekstone says that havoc was the word 
by which, in war, declaration was made that no quarter was to 
be given ; yet the context seems to confirm the derivation of the 
word as a cry to hounds.] 

289. No Rome of safety : a pun consequent upon the pro- 
nunciation room. 

294. [issue = action.] 



62 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act III. 

According to the which, thou shalt discourse 
To young Octavius of the state of things. 

Lend rue your hand. [Exeunt with Caisar's body. 

Scene II, The Forum. 
Enter Brutus and Cassius, and a throng of Citizens. 

Citizens. We will be satisfied ; let us be satisfied. 

Bru. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. 
Cassius, go you into the other street, 
And part the numbers. 

Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here ; 
Those that will follow Cassius, go with him ; 
And public reason shall be rend'red 
Of Caesar's death. 

First Cit. I will hear Brutus speak. 

Sec. Cit. I will hear Cassius ; and compare their 
reasons, 
When severally we hear them rend'red. 10 

[Exit Cassius, with some of the Citizens. Brutus goes into the pulpit. 

Third Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended : silence ! 

Bru. Be patient till the last. 
Eomans, countrymen, and lovers ! hear me for my 
cause, and be silent, that you may hear : believe me 
for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, 
that you may believe : censure me in your wisdom, 
and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. 
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of 
Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was 
no less than his. If then that friend demand why 
Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer : — 

1. [satisfied, see Sc. 1, 1. 141.] 
13. lovers = friends. 

15. have respect to mine honour = take my honour into 
consideration. 

16. censure = judge without any adverse implication. 



Scene IL] JULIUS CJESAR. 63 

Not that I lov'd Caesar less, but that I lov'd Rome 
more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all 
slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men ? 
As Caesar lov'd me, I weep for him ; as he was for- 
tunate, I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honour him : 
but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears 
for his love ; joy for his fortune ; honour for his va- 
lour ; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base 
that would be a bondman ?J If any, speak ; for him 
have I offended. Who is here so rude that would 
not be a Roman ? If any, speak ; for him have I of- 
fended. Who is here so vile that will not love his 
country?] If any, speak ; for him have I offended. I 
pause for a reply. 35 

All. None, Brutus, none. 

Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done no 
more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The 
question of his death is enroll'd in the Capitol ; his 
glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his 
offences enforc'd, for which he suffered death. 4i 

Enter Antony and others, with Cesar's body.* 
Here comes his body, mourn' d by Mark Antony : who, 
though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the 
benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; 
as which of you shall not ? With this I depart, — that, 
as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have 
the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my 
country to need my death. 

All. Live, Brutus ! live, live ! 

First Git. Bring him with triumph home unto his 
house. 50 

Sec. Cit. Give him a statue with his ancestors. 

40. [extenuated = undervalued.] 



64 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act III. 

Third Cit. Let him be Caesar. 

Fourth Clt. Caesar's better parts 

Shall be crown' cl in Brutus. 

First Cit. We'll bring him to his house 

With shouts and clamours. 

Bru. My countrymen, — 

Sec. Cit. Peace, silence ! Brutus speaks. 

First Cit. Peace, ho ! 

Bru. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, 
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony : 
Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech 
Tending to Caesar's glories ; which Mark Antony, 
By our permission, is allow'd to make. 60 

I do entreat you, not a man depart, 
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [Exit. 

First Cit. Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony. 

Third Cit. Let him go up into the public chair ; 
We '11 hear him. Noble Antony, go up. 

Ant. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 

[Goes into the pulpit. 
Fourth Cit. What does he say of Brutus ? 
Third Cit. He says, for Brutus' sake, 

He finds himself beholding to us all. 

Fourth Cit. 'Twere best he speak no harm of 

Brutus here. 
First Cit. This Caesar was a tyrant. 
Third Cit. Nay, that 's certain : 

We are blest that Rome is rid of him. 71 

52. Let him be Caesar: an anachronism. "Csesar" did not 
become a title pertaining to place until long afterward. 

62. Save I : carelessly written for " Save me." have spoke: 
carelessly written for " has spoken." 

68. beholding: properly "beholden," an intensified form of 
" holden " = held. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 65 

Sec. Cit. Peace ! let us hear what Antony can say. 
Ant. You gentle Romans, — 

Citizens. Peace, ho ! let us hear him. 

Ant. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your 
ears ; 
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. 

CThe evil that men do lives after them ; 
The good is oft interred with their bones ; 
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus 
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious : 
If it were so, it was a grievous fault, so 

And grievously hath Csesar answer'd it. 
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest — 
For Brutus is an honourable man ; 
So are they all, all honourable men — 
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. 
He was my friend, faithful and just to me : 
But Brutus says he was ambitious ; 
And Brutus is an honourable man. 
He hath brought many captives home to Rome, 
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : 90 

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ? 
When that the poor have cri'd, Caesar hath wept : 
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff : 
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 
And Brutus is an honourable man. 
You all did see that on the Lupercal 
I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 
Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition ? 
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 

77. interred : pronounced, finely, in-ter-red. 

92. cri'd: that is, for help, uttered their distress. 



66 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act III. 

And, sure, lie is an honourable man. 100 

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, 
But here I am to speak what I do know. 
You all did love him once, not without cause : 
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him ? 

judgement ! thou art fled to brutish beasts, 
And men have lost their reason. ) Bear with me ; 
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, 

And I must pause till it come back to me. 

First Cit. Methinks there is much reason in his 
sayings. 

Sec. Cit. If thou consider rightly of the matter, no 
Caesar has had great wrong. 

Third Cit. Has he, masters ? 

1 fear there will a worse come in his place. 

Fourth Cit. Mark'd ye his words ? He would not 
take the crown ; 
Therefore 't is certain he was not ambitious. 

First Cit. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. 
Sec. Cit. Poor soul ! his eyes are red as fire with 

weeping. 
Third Cit. There 's not a nobler man in Rome than 

Antony. 
Fourth Cit. Now mark him, he begins again to 

speak. 
Ant. But yesterday the word of Caesar might 
Have stood against the world ; now lies he there, 120 
And none so poor to do him reverence. 

masters, if I were dispos'd to stir 

Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, 

1 should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, 
Who, you all know, are honourable men : 

I will not do them wrong ; I rather choose 

115. [That is, will answer for it at a high price.] 



Scene II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 67 

To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, 

Than I will wrong such honourable men. 

But here 's a parchment with the seal of Caesar ; 

I found it in his closet, 't is his will : wo 

Let but the commons hear this testament — 

Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read — 

And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds 

And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, 

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 

And, dying, mention it within their wills, 

Bequeathing it as a rich legacy 

Unto their issue. 

Fourth Clt. We '11 hear the will : read it, Mark 
Antony. 139 

All. The will, the will ! we will hear Caesar's will. 

Ant. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not 
read it ; 
I It is not meet you know how Caesar lov'd you. 
( You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ; ) 
^ And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, 
It will inflame you, it will make you mad : 
'T is good you know not that you are his heirs ; 
For, if you should, O, what would come of it ! 

Fourth Cit. Read the will ; we '11 hear it, Antony ; 
You shall read us the will, Caesar's will. 149 

Ant. Will you be patient ? will you stay awhile ? 
I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it : 
I fear I wrong: the honourable men 
Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar ; I do fear it. 

Fourth Cit. They were traitors : honourable men ! 

All. The will ! the testament! 

Sec. Cit. They were villains, murderers : the will ! 
read the will. 

134. napkins = handkerchiefs : an anachronism. 



TULIU& ZjESAR. rin. 

Y:>u will compel me, then, to read the will ? 
] hen m it hng d I h x : —ar. 

An:: letm : . :ae will. : 

1 nd ? and wifl 

:»me down. 
I - - 

Lntmj comes dorn. 
_ -:and ronnd. 
^tand from the hearse, stand from the 
bo 

! :om for Antony, most noble Antony. 
- :ipon me : stand far off. 
Stand bade; room: bear back. 
A -.If yon hav~ repare to shed them 

Yon all do k:. member 

The first tic: t it on : 

d a sunn:. i^g- in : 

That rercamc Nervii : 

Look, in this place ran Cass _ _ r through : 

"hat a rent : Cas 

Through this the well-beloTed Bm: d : 

An I ick"d his enrsed steel away. 

Mark h: ^sar follow*. 

. :r of doc: .v"d vm 

If B: ■ ■ - - mkindly knock'd. or po : 

syouki - 

JuxL a gods, how dearly Caesar lor'd him : 

166. the hearse : need hardly be said that this is an ana- 
chronism, and a violation of costume. 

174 EheHerwii brave and waxlike tribe of the Belga?. 

- " " 
in the Xorth ) they broke Ins ranks, which he restored by his own 

.i : 
:"_t ■:■-. 

h : m leasly Caesar lov"d him As before remarked, it 
was Deeimns Brutus, and not Marens, whom Csesar lored. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CESAR. 69 

This was the most unkindest cut of all ; 

For when the noble Csesar saw him stab, 

Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, 

Quite vanquish'd him : then burst his mightf heart ; 

And, in his mantle muffling up his face, 

Even at the base of Pompey's statua, 

Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. wo 

O, what a fall was there, my countrymen ! 

Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, 

Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us. 

O, now you weep ; and, I perceive, you feel 

The dint of pity : these are gracious drops. ) 

Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold 

Our Caesar's vesture wounded ? Look you here, 

[Lifting Ccesars mantle. 

Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors. 

First Cit. O piteous spectacle ! 

Sec. Cit. O noble Caesar ! 200 

Third Cit. O wof ul day ! 

Fourth Cit. O traitors, villains ! 

First Cit. O most bloody sight ! 

Sec. Cit. We will be reveng'd. 

All. Revenge ! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! 
Slay ! 
Let not a traitor live ! 

Ant. Stay, countrymen. 

First Cit. Peace there ! hear the noble Antony. 

Sec. Cit. We "11 hear him, we "11 follow him, we '11 
die with him. 

Ant. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir 
you up 210 

To sucji a sudden flood of mutiny. 
They that have done this deed are honourable : 
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, 



70 JULIUS CJESAR. [Act III. 

That made them do it: they are wise and honour- 
able, 
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. 
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : 
I am no orator, as Brutus is ; 
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, 
That love my friend ; and that they know full well 
That gave me public leave to speak of him : 220 

/ For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, 
( Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech^ 

To stir men's blood : I only speak right on ; 
I I tell you that which you yourselves do know ; J 
V Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor poor dumb 
mouths, 
And bid them speak for me : but were I Brutus, 
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue 
In every wound of Caesar that should move 
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. 230 

All. We '11 mutiny. 

First Cit. We '11 burn the house of Brutus. 
Third Cit. Away, then ! come, seek the conspira- 
tors. 
Ant. Yet hear me, countrymen ; yet hear me speak. 
All. Peace, ho ! Hear Antony. Most noble 

Antony ! 
Ant. Why, friends, you go to do you know not 
what : 
Wherein hath Caesar thus deserv'd your loves? 
Alas, you know not : I must tell you, then : 
You have forgot the will I told you of. 

All. Most true. The will ! Let 's stay and hear 
the will. 240 

Ant. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. 



Scene II.] JULIUS CuESAR. 71 

To every Roman citizen lie gives, 

To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. 

Sec. Cit. Most noble Caesar ! We '11 revenge his 
death. 

Third Cit. O royal Caesar ! 

Ant. Hear me with patience. 

All. Peace, ho ! 

Ant. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, 
His private arbours and new-planted orchards, 
On this side Tiber ; he hath left them you, 250 

And to your heirs forever, common pleasures, 
To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves. 
Here was a Caesar ! when comes such another ? 

First Cit. Never, never. Come, away, away ! 
We '11 burn his body in the holy place, 
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. 
Take up the body. 

Sec. Cit. Go fetch fire. 

Third Cit. Pluck down benches. 

Fourth Cit. Pluck down forms, windows, any 

thing. [Exeunt Citizens with the body. 

Ant. Now let it work. / Mischief, thou art afoot, 261 
Take thou what course thou wilt ! ) 

Enter a Servant. 

How now, fellow ! 
Serv. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. 
Ant. Where is he ? 

Serv. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house. 
Ant. And thither will I straight to visit him : 

243. seventy -five drachmas. A drachma was in nominal 
value equal to about eighteen cents, or a franc ; but the differ- 
ence between the real value of money then and now is so great 
that seventy-five drachmas was equal to at least two hundred 
dollars, — an impossible sum for Csesar to have left to every 
Roman citizen. 



72 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III. 

He comes upon a wish. , Fortune is merry, 
And in this mood will give us any thing. ,) 

Serv. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius 
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. 270 

Ant.! Belike they had some notice of the people, , 
How I had mov'd themJ Bring me to Octavius. 

[Exeunt. 
Scene III. A street. 

Enter Cinna the poet. 

Gin. I dreamt to-night that I did feast with Caesar, 
And things unluckily charge my fantasy : 
I have no will to wander forth of doors, 
Yet something leads me forth. ) 

Enter Citizens. 

First Git. What is your name ? 

Sec. Git. Whither are you going ? 

Tliird Git. Where do you dwell ? 

Fourth Git. Are you a married man or a bachelor ? 

Sec. Git. Answer every man directly. 

First Git. Ay, and briefly. 10 

Fourth Git. Ay, and wisely. 

Third Git. Ay, and truly, you were best. 

Gin. What is my name ? Whither am I going ? 
Where do I dwell ? Am I a married man or a bach- 
elor? Then, to answer every man directly and briefly, 
wisely and truly : wisely I say, I am a bachelor. 

Sec. Git. (That 's as much as to say, they are fools 
that marry :]you '11 bear me a bang for that, I fear. 
Proceed ; directly. 

Gin. Directly, I am going to Caesars funeral. 20 

First Git. As a friend or an enemy ? 

Gin. As a friend. 

Sec. Git. That matter is answered directly. 

Fourth Git. For your dwelling, — briefly, 
18. [That is, " you '11 win a blow for me."] 



Scene L] JULIUS CJESAR. 73 

Cin. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol. 

Third Cit. Your name, sir, truly. 

Cin. Truly, my name is China. 

First Cit. Tear him to pieces ; he 's a conspirator. 

Cin. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet. 

Fourth Cit. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him 
for his bad verses. 31 

Cin. I am not Cinna the conspirator. 

Fourth Cit. It is no matter, his name's Cinna; 
pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him go- 
ing. 

TJiird Cit. Tear him, tear him ! Come, brands, ho ! 
fire-brands: to Brutus', to Cassius' ; burn all: some 
to Deems' house, and some to Casca's ; some to Li- 
garius' : away, go ! [Exeunt. 

ACT IV. 

Scene I. A house in Rome. 

Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, seated at a table. 
Ant. These many, then, shall die ; their names are 

prick'd. 
Oct. Your brother too must die; consent you, 

Lepidus ? 
Lej). I do consent, — 

Oct, Prick him down, Antony. 

Lep. Upon condition Publius shall not live, 
Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony. 

Ant. He shall not live ; look, with a spot I damn 

him. 

34. [turn him going = send him packing.] 
1. prick'd = marked with a prick or point, checked. 
4. Publius, etc. : a mistake : it was Lucius, Antony's mater- 
nal uncle. 

6. damn = condemn. 



74 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. 

But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house ; 
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine 
How to cut off some charge in legacies. 

Lep. What, shall I find you here ? 10 

Oct. Or here, or at the Capitol. [Exit Lepidus. 

Ant. This is a slight unmeritable man, 
Meet to be sent on errands : is it fit, 
The three-fold world divided, he should stand 
One of the three to share it ? 

Oct. So you thought him ; 

And took his voice who should be prick'd to die, 
In our black sentence and proscription. 

Ant. Octavius, I have seen more days than you : 
And though we lay these honours on this man, 
To ease ourselves of divers sland'rous loads, 29 

He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, 
To groan and sweat under the business, 
Either led or driven, as we point the way ; 
And having brought our treasure where we will, 
Then take we down his load, and turn him off, 
Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears, 
And graze in commons. 

Oct. , You may do your will ; 

But he 's a tried and valiant soldier. 

Ant. So is my horse, Octavius ; and for that 
I do appoint him store of provender : 30 

It is a creature that I teach to fight, 
To wind, to stop, to run directly on, 
His corporal motion govern'd by my spirit. 
And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so ; 
He must be taught and train 'd and bid go forth ; 

11. [Or ... or = either ... or. A Latinized phrase, as 
aut . • • aut.J 



Scene II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 75 

A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds 

On objects, orts and imitations, 

Which, out of use and stal'd by other men, 

Begin his fashion : do not talk of him, 

But as a property. And now, Octavius, . 40 

Listen great things : — Brutus and Cassius 

Are levying powers : we must straight make head : 

Therefore let our alliance be combin'd, 

Our best friends made, our means stretch'd ; 

And let us presently go sit in council, 

How covert matters may be best disclos'd, 

And open perils surest answered. 

Oct. Let us do so : for we are at the stake, 
And bay'd about with many enemies ; 
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, so 
Millions of mischiefs. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. Camp near Sardis. Before Brutus' tent. 

Brum. Enter Brutus, Lucilius, Lucius, and Soldiers ; Titinius 
and Pindarus meeting them. 

Bru. Stand, ho ! 

Lucil. Give the word, ho ! and stand. 

Bru. What now, Lucilius ! is Cassius near? 

Lucil. He is at hand ; and Pindarus is come 
To do you salutation from his master. 

Bru. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus, 
In his own change, or by ill officers, 
Hath given me some worthy cause to wish 

37. [objects, orts and imitations. Antony is describing a 
man of dull imagination and no invention, who takes up with 
what he sees only, what is thrown away by others, mere copies ; 
these are all new to him.] 

42. [levying powers = raising armed forces.] 
44. Our best friends. Three syllables have been lost from 
this line, in which there is no guide to an acceptable restoration. 



76 JULIUS CESAR. [Act IV. 

Things done, undone : but, if he be at hand, 
I shall be satisfied. 

Pin. I do not doubt 10 

But that my noble master will appear 
Such as he is, full of regard and honour. 

Bru. He is not doubted. A word, Lucilius; 
How he received you, let me be resolved. 

Lucil. With courtesy and with respect enough ; 
But not with such familiar instances, 
Nor with such free and friendly conference, 
As he hath used of old. 

Bru. Thou hast described 

A hot friend cooling : ever note, Lucilius, 
When love begins to sicken and decay, 20 

It useth an enforced ceremony. 
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith ; 
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle : 
But when they should endure the bloody spur, 
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, 
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ? 

Lucil. They mean this night in Sarclis to be 
quarter'd ; 
The greater part, the horse in general, 
Are come with Cassius. 

Bru. Hark ! he is arriv'd. 

[Low march within. 
March gently on to meet him. 31 

Enter Cassius and his powers. 

Cas. Stand, ho ! 

Bru . Stand, ho ! Speak the word along. 

23. hot at hand = hot in hand. 

26. fall. This transitive use of the verb remains only in the 
vernacular expression " to fall a tree." 



Scene III.] JULIUS CjESAR. 77 

First Sol. Stand ! 

Sec. Sol. Stand ! 

Third Sol. Stand! 

Cas. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong. 

Bru. Judge me, you gods ! wrong I mine enemies ? 
And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother? 

Cas. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs ; 
And when you do them — 

Bru. Cassius, be content ; « 

Speak your griefs softly : I do know you well. 
Before the eyes of both our armies here, 
Which should perceive nothing but love from us, 
Let us not wrangle : bid them move away ; 
Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, 
And I will give you audience. 

Cas. Pindarus, 

Bid our commanders lead their charges off 
A little from this ground. 

Bru. Lucilius, do you the like ; and let no man so 
Come to our tent till we have done our conference. 
Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Brutus' tent. 
Enter Brutus and Cassius. 

Cas. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in 
this : 
You have condemivd and noted Lucius Pella 
For taking bribes here of the Sardians ; 
Wherein my letter, praying on his side, 
Because I knew the man, was slighted off. 

42. [griefs = grievances.] 

46. [enlarge = spread out. We use the word in this sense 
only with " upon " added.] 

5. [slighted off. Here we have simplified the form and got 
rid of "off."] 



78 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act IV. 

Bru. You wrong' d yourself to write in such a case. 

Cas. In such a time as this it is not meet 
That every nice offence should bear his comment. 

Bru. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 
Are much condemned to have an itching- palm ; 10 

To sell and mart your offices for gold 
To undeservers. 

Cas. I an itching palm ! 

You know that you are Brutus that speak this, 
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last. 

Bru. The name of Cassius honours this corruption, 
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head. 

Cas. Chastisement ! 

Bru. Remember March, the ides of March remem- 
ber : 
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake ? 
What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 20 

And not for justice ? What, shall one of us, 
That struck the foremost man of all this world 
But for supporting robbers, shall we now 
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, 
And sell the mighty space of our large honours 
For so much trash as may be grasped thus ? 
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 
Than such a Roman. 

Cas. Brutus, bay not me ; 

I '11 not endure it : you forget yourself, 
To hedge me in ; I am a soldier, I, so 

Older in practice, abler than yourself 
To make conditions. 

8. nice offence = petty offence. 

28. [bay. Some editors read " bait," but it is natural that 
Cassius should catch up Brutus.] 

30. [hedge me in = limit my authority.] 



Scene III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 79 

Bru. Go to ; you are not, Cassius. 

Cas. I am. 

Bru. I say you are not. 

Cas. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself ; 
Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther. 

Bru. Away, slight man ! 

Cas. Is 't possible ? 

Bru. Hear me, for I will speak. 

Must I give way and room to your rash choler ? 
Shall I be frighted when a madman stares ? 40 

Cas. O ye gods, ye gods ! must I endure all 
this ? 

Bru. All this ! ay, more : fret till your proud heart 
break ; 
Go show your slaves how choleric you are, 
And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge ? 
Must I observe you ? must I stand and crouch 
Under your testy humour ? By the gods, 
You shall digest the venom of your spleen, 
Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, 
I '11 use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, 
When you are waspish. 

Cas. Is it come to this? 50 

Bru. You say you are a better soldier : 
Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true, 
And it shall please me well : for mine own part, 
I shall be glad to learn of noble men. 

Cas. You wrong me every way ; you wrong me, 
Brutus ; 
I said, an elder soldier, not a better : 
Did I say " better " ? 

Bru. If you did, I care not. 

Cas. When Caesar liv'd, he durst not thus have 
mov'd me. 



80 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act IV. 

Bru. Peace, peace ! you durst not so have tempted 
him. 

Cas. I durst not ! 60 

Bru. No. 

Cas. What, durst not tempt him ! 

Bru. For your life you durst not. 

Cas. Do not presume too much upon my love ; 
I may do that I shall be sorry for. 

Bru. You have done that you should be sorry for. 
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, 
For I am arm'd so strong in honesty 
That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
Which I respect not. I did send to you 
For certain sums of gold, which you denied me : 70 
For I can raise no money by vile means : 
By heaven, I had rather coin my heart, 
And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 
By any indirection : I did send 
To you for gold to pay my legions, 
Which you denied me : was that done like Cassius ? 
Should I have answer'd Caius Cassius so ? 
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 
To lock such rascal counters from his friends, so 

Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts ; 
Dash him to pieces ! 

Cas. I denied you not. 

Bru. You did. 

Cas. I did not : he was but a fool that brought 
My answer back. Brutus hath riv'd my heart : 
A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, 
But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. 

Bru. I do not, till you practise them on me. 

75. [indirection = dishonest practice.] 



Scene III.] JULIUS CjESAR. 81 

Cas. You love me not. 

Bru. I do not like your faults. 

Cas. A friendly eye could never see such faults. 90 

Bru. A flatterer's would not, though they do ap- 
pear 
As huge as high Olympus. 

Cas. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, 
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, 
For Cassius is aweary of the world; 
Hated by one he loves ; brav'd by his brother ; 
Check'd like a bondman ; all his faults observ'd, 
Set in a note-book, learn 'd, and conn'd by rote, 
To cast into my teeth. O, I could weep 
My spirit from mine eyes ! There is my dagger, 100 
And here my naked breast ; within, a heart 
Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold : 
If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth ; 
I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart : 
Strike, as thou didst at Caesar ; for, I know, 
When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him 

better 
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. 

Bru. Sheathe your dagger : 

Be angry when you will, it shall have scope ; 
Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour. 
O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb no 

That carries anger as the flint bears fire ; 
Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark, 
And straight is cold again. 

Cas. Hath Cassius liv'd 

To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, 
When grief, and blood ill-temper'd, vex^h him? 

109. [dishonour shall be humour, i. e. though you do a dis- 
graceful deed, I '11 set it down as a mere whim, or caprice, not 
to be taken seriously.] 



82 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act IV. 

Bru. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper 'd too. 

Cas. Do you confess so much ? Give me your hand. 

Bru. And my heart too. 

Cas. Brutus! 

Bru. What 's the matter ? 

Cas. Have not you love enough to bear with me, 
When that rash humour which my mother gave me 120 
Makes me forgetful ? 

Bru. Yes, Cassius ; and, from henceforth, 

When you are over-earnest with your Brutus, 
He '11 think your mother chides, and leave you so. 

Poet. [ Within.~\ Let me go in to see the generals ; 
There is some grudge between 'em, 't is not meet 
They be alone. 

Lucil. [ Within.] You shall not come to them. 

Poet. [ Within.'] Nothing but death shall stay me. 
Enter Poet, followed by Lucilius, Titinius ; and Lucius. 

Cas. How now! what 's the matter ? 

Poet. For shame, you generals ! what do you mean ? 
Love, and be friends, as two such men should be ; m 
For I have seen more years, I 'm sure, than ye. 

Cas. Ha, ha ! how vilely doth this cynic rhyme ! 

Bru. Get you hence, sirrah ; saucy fellow, hence ! 

Cas. Bear with him, Brutus ; 't is his fashion. 

Bru. I '11 know his humour, when he knows his time : 
What should the wars do with these jigging fools ? 
Companion, hence ! 

Cas. Away, away, be gone ! [Exit Poet. 

Bru. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders 
Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 140 

Cas. And come yourselves, and bring Messala with 
you 

Immediately to US. [Exeunt Lucilius and Titinius. 

138. companion = fellow. 



Scene III.] JULIUS CjESAR. 8S 

Bru. Lucius, a bowl of wine ! [Exit Lucius, 

Cas. I did not think you could have been so angry. 
Bru. O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs. 
Cas. Of your philosophy you make no use, 
If you give place to accidental evils. 

Bru. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead. 

Cas. Ha! Portia! 

Bru. She is dead. 

Cas. How 'scap'd I killing when I cross'd you so ? 150 

insupportable and touching loss ! 
Upon what sickness ? 

Bru. Impatient of my absence, 

And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony 
Have made themselves so strong : — for with her death 
That tidings came ; — with this she fell distract, 
And, her attendants absent, swallow'd fire. 

Cas. And died so ? 

Bru. Even so. 

Cas. O ye immortal gods ! 

Re-enter Lucius, with wine and taper. 
Bru. Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of 
wine. 
In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. 

Cas. My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. ieo 
Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup ; 

1 cannot drink too much of Brutus' love. 

Bru. Come in, Titinius ! [Exit Lucius. 

Re-enter Titinius with Messala. 

Welcome, good Messala. 
Now sit we close about this taper here, 
And call in question our necessities. 
Cas. Portia, art thou gone ? 

152. Impatient, etc. In this speech two forms of construction 
are confused ; but the sense is unmistakable. 



84 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act IV. 

Bru. No more, I pray you. 

Messala, I have here received letters, 
That young Octavius and Mark Antony 
Come down upon us with a mighty power, 
Bending their expedition toward Philippi. no 

Mes. Myself have letters of the self-same tenour. 

Brio, With what addition ? 

Mes. That by proscription and bills of outlawry, 
Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, 
Have put to death an hundred senators. 

Bru. Therein our letters do not well agree ; 
Mine speak of seventy senators that died 
By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. 

Cas. Cicero one ! 

Mes. Cicero is dead, 

And by that order of proscription. iso 

Had you your letters from your wife, my lord ? 

Bru. No, Messala. 

Mes. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her ? 

Bru. Nothing, Messala. 

Mes. That, methinks, is strange. 

Bru. Why ask you ? hear you aught of her in yours ? 

Mes. No, my lord. 

Bru. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true. 

Mes. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell : 
For certain she is dead, and by strange manner. 189 

Bru. Why, farewell, Portia. We must die, Messala : 
With meditating that she must die once, 
I have the patience to endure it now. 

Mes. Even so great men great losses should endure. 

Cas. I have as much of this in art as you, 
But yet my nature could not bear it so. 

Bru. Well, to our work alive. What do you think 
Of marching to Philippi presently ? 



Scene III.] JULIUS CjESAR. 85 

Cas. I do not think it good. 

Bru. Your reason ? 

Cas. This it is : 

'T is better that the enemy seek us : 
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 200 
Doing himself offence ; whilst we, lying still, 
Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. 

Bru. Good reasons must, of force, give place to 
better. 
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground 
Do stand but in a forc'd affection ; 
For they have grudg'd us contribution : 
The enemy, marching along by them, 
By them shall make a fuller number up, 
Come on refresh'd, new-added, and encourag'd ; 
From which advantage shall we cut him off, 210 

If at Philippi we do face him there, 
These people at our back. 

Cas. Hear me, good brother. 

Bru. Under your pardon. You must note beside, 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe : 
The enemy increaseth every day ; 
We, at the height, are ready to decline. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune : 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 22c 

Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 
On such a full sea are we now afloat ; 
And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures. 

Cas. Then, with your will, go on ; 

We '11 along ourselves, and meet them at Philippi. 
201. [offence = hurt.] 



86 JULIUS CMSAR. [Act IV. 

Bru. The deep of night is crept upon our talk, 
And nature must obey necessity ; 
Which we will niggard with a little rest. 
There is no more to say? 

Cas. No more. Goodnight: 

Early to-morrow will we rise, and hence. 230 

Bru. Lucius ! [Enter Lucius.~\ My gown. [Exit 
Lucius. ,] Farewell, good Messala : 
Good night, Titinius. Noble, noble Cassius, 
Good night, and good repose. 

Cas. O my dear brother ! 

This was an ill beginning of the night : 
Never come such division 'tween our souls ! 
Let it not, Brutus. 

Bru. Every thing is well. 

Cas. Good night, my lord. 

Bru. Good night, good brother. 

Tit. Mes. Good night, Lord Brutus. 

Bru. Farewell, every one. 

[Exeunt all but Brutus. 
Be-enter Lucius, with the gown. 
Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument ? 
Luc. Here in the tent. 

Bru. What, thou speak'st drowsily ? 

Poor knave, I blame thee not ; thou art o'erwatch'd. 
Call Claudius and some other of my men ; i« 

1 11 have them sleep on cushions in my tent. 
Luc. Varro and Claudius ! 

Enter Varro and Claudius. 

Var. Calls my lord ? 

Bru. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep ; 

228. [niggard = supply sparingly.] 

241. Poor knave : as a man might kindly say nowadays, 
« Poor little rogue." So afterwards, line 269, Gentle knave. 



Scene III.] JULIUS CJESAR. 87 

It may be I shall raise you by and by 
On business to my brother Cassius. 

Var. So please you, we will stand and watch your 
pleasure. 

Bru. I will not have it so : lie down, good sirs ; 250 
It may be I shall otherwise bethink me. 
Look, Lucius, here 's the book I sought for so ; 
I put it in the pocket of my gown. [y ar . and Clau. lie down. 

Luc. I was sure your lordship did not give it me. 

Bru. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. 
Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile, 
And touch thy instrument a strain or two ? 

Luc. Ay, my lord, an 't please you. 

Bru. It does, my boy : 

I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. 

Luc. It is my duty, sir. 26« 

Bru. I should not urge thy duty past thy might ; 
I know young bloods look for a time of rest. 

Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. 

Bru. It was well done ; and thou shalt sleep again ; 
I will not hold thee long : if I do live, 
I will be good to thee. [Music, and a song. 

This is a sleepy tune. O murd'rous slumber, 
Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, 
That plays thee music ? Gentle knave, good night ; 
I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee : 27# 
If thou dost nod, thou break' st thy instrument ; 
I '11 take it from thee ; and, good boy, good night. 
Let me see, let me see ; is not the leaf turn'd down 
Where I left reading ? Here it is, I think. 

Enter the Ghost of Cesar. 

How ill this taper burns ! Ha ! who comes here ? 
I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 
That shapes this monstrous apparition. 



88 JULIUS CjESAR. [Act IV. 

It comes upon me. Art thou any thing? 
Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 
That mak'st my blood cold and my hair to stare ? 280 
Speak to me what thou art. 

Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. 

Brit. Why com" st thou? 

Ghost. To tell fchee thou shalt see me at Philippi. 

Bru. Well ; then I shall see thee again ? 

Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. 

Bru. W r hy, I will see thee at Philippi, then. 

[Exit Ghost. 
Now I have taken heart thou vanishest : 
111 spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. 
Boy, Lucius ! Varro ! Claudius ! Sirs, awake ! 290 

Claudius ! 

Luc. The strings, my lord, are false. 

Bru. He thinks he still is at his instrument. 
Lucius, awake ! 

Luc. My lord? 

Bru. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst 
out? 

Luc. My lord, I do not know that I did cry. 

Bru. Yes, that thou didst : didst thou see any thing ? 

Luc. Nothing, my lord. 

Bru. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius ! 300 
[To Var.'] Fellow thou, awake ! 

Var. My lord ? 

Clau. My lord? 

Bru. W 7 hy did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep? 

Var. Clau. Did we, my lord ? 

Bru. Ay : saw you any thing ? 

Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing. 

Clau. Nor I, my lord. 

Bru. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius ; 



Scene L] JULIUS CJESAR. 89 

Bid him set on his powers betimes before, 
And we will follow. 

Var. Clau. It shall be done, my lord. [Exeunt. 



ACT V. 

Scene I. The plains of Philippi. 
Enter Octavius, Antony, and their Army. 

Oct. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered : 
You said the enemy would not come down, 
But keep the hills and upper regions ; 
It proves not so : their battles are at hand ; 
They mean to warn us at Philippi here, 
Answering before we do demand of them. 

Ant. Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know 
Wherefore they do it : they could be content 
To visit other places ; and come down 
With fearful bravery, thinking by this face 10 

To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage ; 
But 't is not so. 

Enter a Messenger. 

Mess. Prepare you, generals : 

The enemy comes on in gallant show ; 
Their bloody sign of battle is hung out, 
And something to be done immediately. 

Ant. Octavius, lead your battle softly on, 
Upon the left hand of the even field. 

Oct. Upon the right hand I ; keep thou the left. 

Ant. Why do you cross me in this exigent ? 19 

Oct. I do not cross you ; but I will do so. [March. 

4. battles = ranks, troops. 

5. [warn = challenge. So, in the old game of football, the 
side that opened the game called out " Warning ! " and the other 
replied " Take 'em! "] 



90 JULIUS CJESAR. [ActV. 

Brum. Enter Brutus, Cassius, and their Army ; Lucilius, Titinius, 
Messala, and others. 

Bru. They stand, and would have parley. 

Cas. Stand fast, Titinius : we must out and 
talk. 

Oct. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle ? 

Ant. No, Caesar, we will answer on their charge. 
Make forth ; the generals would have some words. 

Oct. Stir not until the signal. 

Bru. Words before blows : is it so, countrymen ? 

Oct. Not that we love words better, as you do. 

Bru. Good words are better than bad strokes, 
Octavius. 

Ant. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good 
words : 30 

Witness the hole you made in Caesar's heart, 
Crying " Long live ! hail, Caesar ! " 

Cas. Antony, 

The posture of your blows are yet unknown ; 
But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, 
And leave them honeyless. 

Ant. Not stingless too. 

Bru. O, yes, and soundless too ; 
For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony, 
And very wisely threat before you sting. 

Ant. Villains, you did not so, when your vile dag- 
gers 
Hack'd one another in the sides of Caesar : 40 

You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like 

hounds, 
And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Caesar's feet ; 

33. The posture . . . are : mere carelessness. It was not 
"good grammar " in Shakespeare's time ; [or it may be referred 
to a species of " attraction," as the Latin grammar would have it.] 



Scene I.] JULIUS CjESAR. 91 

Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind 
Struck Caesar on the neck. O you flatterers ! 

Cas. Flatterers ! Now, Brutus, thank yourself : 
This tongue had not offended so to-day, 
If Cassius might have rul'd. 

Oct. Come, come, the cause : if arguing make us 
sweat, 
The proof of it will turn to redder drops. 
Look ; 50 

I draw a sword against conspirators ; 
When think you that the sword goes up again ? 
Never, till Caesar's three and thirty wounds 
Be well aveng'd ; or till another Caesar 
Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors. 

JBru. Caesar, thou canst not die by traitors' hands, 
Unless thou bring'st them with thee. 

Oct. So I hope ; 

I was not born to die on Brutus' sword. 

Bru. O, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain, 
Young man, thou couldst not die more honourable, eo 

Cas. A peevish schoolboy, worthless of such hon- 
our, 
Join'd with a masker and a reveller ! 

Ant. Old Cassius still ! 

Oct. Come, Antony, away ! 

Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth : 

53. three and thirty wounds. Some people are aggrieved 
at Shakespeare's great inaccuracy, as Suetonius says twenty- 
three. But see the note Act III., Sc. 1, 1. 77. 

59. strain = race, blood, family ; from the A. S. streonan = 
beget. 

60. more honourable. In this and many similar instances 
there may be an adjective misused as an adverb ; but I suspect 
that in all these cases hie was a syllable, and that here we merely 
have an irregular spelling of " honorably." 



92 JULIUS CjESAR. [ActV. 

If you dare fight to-day, come to the field ; 
If not, when you have stomachs. 

[Exeunt Octavius, Antony, and their army. 

Cas. Why, now, blow wind, swell billow and swim 
bark! 
The storm is up, and all is on the hazard. 
Bru. Ho, Lucilius ! hark, a word with you. 
Lucil. [Standing forth. ~\ My lord? 

[Brutus and Lucilius converse apart. 

Cas. Messala ! 

Mes. [Standing forth.] What says my general? 

Cas. Messala, 71 

This is my birth-day ; as this very day 
Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala: 
Be thou my witness that against my will, 
As Pompey was, am I compelFd to set 
Upon one battle all our liberties. 
You know that I held Epicurus strong 
And his opinion : now I change my mind, 
And partly credit things that do }}resage. 
Coming from Sard is, on our former ensign so 

Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perch'd, 
Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands; 
Who to Philippi here consorted us : 
This morning are they fled away and gone ; 
And in their steads do ravens, crows and kites, 
Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us, 
As we were sickly prey : their shadows seem 
A canopy most fatal, under which 
Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. 

Mes. Believe not so. 

66. stomachs = appetite for fight, courage. 

77. Epicurus . . . and his opinion. This was strongly 
against even the evidence of the senses in things supernatural. 

80. former = first, going before. 



Scene L] JULIUS CJESAR. 93 

Gas. I but believe it partly ; 

For I am fresh of spirit and resolv'd 
To meet all perils very constantly. 

Bru. Even so, Lucilius. 

Gas. Now, most noble Brutus, 

The gods to-day stand friendly, that we may, 
Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age ! 
But since the affairs of men rest still incertain, 
Let 's reason with the worst that may befall. 
If we do lose this battle, then is this 
The very last time we shall speak together : 
What are you then determined to do ? 100 

Bru. Even by the rule of that philosophy 
By which I did blame Cato for the death 
Which he did give himself, I know not how, 
But I do find it cowardly and vile, 
For fear of what might fall, so to prevent 
The time of life : arming myself with patience 
To stay the providence of some high powers 
That govern us below. 

Gas. Then, if we lose this battle, 

You are contented to be led in triumph 
Thorough the streets of Rome ? no 

Bru. No, Cassius, no : think not, thou noble 
Roman, 
That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome ; 
He bears too great a mind. But this same day 
Must end that work the ides of March begun ; 
And whether we shall meet again I know not. 
Therefore our everlasting farewell take : 
For ever, and for ever, farewell, Cassius ! 
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile ; 
If not, why then, this parting was well made. 

93. [A scrap of the unheard conversation apart, between Bru- 
tus and Lucilius.] 



M JULIUS CjESAR. [ActV. 

Cas. For ever, and for ever, farewell, Brutus ! 120 
If we do meet again, we '11 smile indeed ; 
If not, 't is true this parting was well made. 

Bru. Why, then, lead on. O, that a man might 
know 
The end of this day's business ere it come ! 
But it sufficeth that the day will end, 
And then the end is known. Come, ho ! away ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene II. The same. The field of battle. 

Alarum. Enter Brutus and Messala. 

Bru. Bide, ride, Messala, ride, and give these bills 
Unto the legions on the other side. [Loud alarum. 

Let them set on at once ; for I perceive 
But cold demeanour in Octavius' wing, 
And sudden push gives them the overthrow. 
Ride, ride, Messala : let them all come down. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Another part of the field. 
Alarums. Enter Cassius and Titinius. 

Cas. O, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly ! 
Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy : 
This ensign here of mine was turning back ; 
I slew the coward, and did take it from him. 

Tit. O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early ; 
Who, having some advantage on Octavius, 
Took it too eagerly : his soldiers fell to spoil, 
Whilst we by Antony are all enclos'd. 

Enter Pindarus. 
Pin. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off ; 
Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord : 10 

Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off. 



Scene III.] JULIUS CjESAR. 95 

Cas. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titin- 
ius ; 
Are those my tents where I perceive the fire ? 

Tit. They are, my lord. 

Cas. Titinius, if thou lovest me, 

Mount thou my horse, and hide thy spurs in him, 
Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops, 
And here again ; that I may rest assured 
Whether yond troops are friend or enemy. 

Tit. I will be here again, even with a thought. 

[Exit. 

Cas. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill ; 20 

My sight was ever thick ; regard Titinius, 
And tell me what thou not'st about the field. 

[Pindarus ascends the hill. 

This day I breathed first : time is come round, 

And where I did begin, there shall I end ; 

My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news ? 

Pin. [Above.] O my lord ! 

Cas. What news ? 

Pin. [Above.] Titinius is enclosed round about 
With horsemen, that make to him on the spur ; 
Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30 
Now, Titinius ! Now some light. O, he lights too. 
He's ta'en. [Shout.] And, hark! they shout for 

Cas. Come down, behold no more. 
O, coward that I am, to live so long, 
To see my best friend ta'en before my face ! 

Pindarus descends. 
Come hither, sirrah : 
In Parthia did I take thee prisoner ; 
And then I swore thee, saving of thy life, 
That whatsoever I did bid thee do, 



96 JULIUS CJESAR. [ActV. 

Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine 
oath ; 40 

Now be a freeman : and with this good sword, 
That ran through Caesar's bowels, search this bosom. 
Stand not to answer : here, take thon the hilts ; 
And, when my face is cover'd, as 't is now, 
Guide thou the sword. \JPindarus stabs him:'] Caesar, 

thou art reveng'd, 
Even with the sword that kill'd thee. [Dies. 

Pin. So, I am free ; yet would not so have been, 
Durst I have done my will. O Cassius, 
Far from this country Pindar us shall run, 49 

Where never Roman shall take note of him. [Exit. 

Re-enter Titinius with Messala. 

Mies. It is but change, Titinius : for Octavius 
Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power, 
As Cassius' legions are by Antony. 

Tit. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. 

Mes. Where did you leave him ? 

Tit. All disconsolate, 

With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill. 

Mes. Is not that he that lies upon the ground ? 

Tit. He lies not like the living. O my heart ! 

Mes. Is not that he ? 

Tit. No, this was he, Messala, 

But Cassius is no more. O setting sun, so 

As in thy red rays thou dost sink to-night, 
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set ; 
The sun of Rome is set ! Our day is gone ; 
Clouds, dews, and dangers come ; our deeds are 

done! 
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. 

43. hilts : commonly used, like " funerals," in regard to one 
object. 



Scene III.] JULIUS CESAR. 97 

Mes. Mistrust of good success hath done this deed. 
O hateful error, melancholy's child, 
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men 
The things that are not ? O error, soon conceiv'd, 
Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, 70 

But kill'st the mother that engender'd thee ! 

Tit. What, Pindarus ! where art thou, Pindarus ? 

Mes. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet 
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report 
Into his ears ; I may say, thrusting it ; 
For piercing steel and darts envenomed 
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus 
As tidings of this sight. 

Tit. Hie you, Messala, 

And I will seek for Pindarus the while. [Exit Messala. 
Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius ? so 

Did I not meet thy friends ? and did not they 
Put on my brows this wreath of victory, 
And bid me give it thee? Didst thou not hear their 

shouts ? 
Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing ! 
But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow ; 
Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I 
Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace, 
And see how I regarded Caius Cassius. 
By your leave, gods : — this is a Roman's part : 
Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. 90 

[Kills himself. 

Alarum. Re-enter Messala, with Brutus, young Cato, Strato, 
Volumnius, and Lucilius. 

Bru. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie ? 

65, 66. success was used merely to mean consequence, that 
which follows action, for a long time after Shakespeare's day. 

84. [Does not Titinius in this line sum up the fatal defect in 
Cassius's temperament ?] 



98 JULIUS CJ2SAR. [ActV. 

Mes. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it. 

Bru. Titinius' face is upward. 

Cato. He is slain. 

Bru. O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet ! 
Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 
In our own proper entrails. [l ow alarums. 

Cato. Brave Titinius ! 

Look, whether he have not crown'd dead Cassius ! 

Bru. Are yet two Romans living such as these ? 
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well ! 
It is impossible that ever Rome 100 

Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe more tears 
To this dead man than you shall see me pay. 
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time. 
Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body : 
His funerals shall not be in our camp, 
Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come ; 
And come, young Cato ; let us to the field. 
Labeo and ITlavius, set our battles on : 
'T is three o'clock ; and, Romans, yet ere night 109 

We shall try fortune in a second fight. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV. Another part of the field. 

Alarum. Enter fighting, Soldiers of both armies; then Brutus, young 
Cato, Lucilius and others. 

Bru. Yet, countrymen, O, yet hold up your heads ! 

Cato. What bastard doth not ? Who will go with 
me? 
I will proclaim my name about the field : 
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 
A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend ; 
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 

110. a second fight. The second fight at Philippi was not 
nntil twenty days afterwards. 



Scene IV.] JULIUS CMSAR. 99 

Bru. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I ; 
Brutus, my country's friend ; know me for Brutus ! 

[Exit. 

Lucil. young and noble Cato, art thou down ? 
Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius ; 10 

And mayst be honour'd, being Cato's son. 

First Sol. Yield, or thou diest. 

Lucil. O u ly I yield to die : 

There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight ; 

[Offering money. 

Kill Brutus, and be honour'd in his death. 

First Sol. We must not. A noble prisoner ! 

Sec. Sol. Room, ho ! Tell Antony, Brutus is 
ta'en. 

First Sol. I'll tell the news. Here comes the 
general. 

Enter Antony. 
Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord. 

Ant. Where is he ? 

Lucil. Safe, Antony ; Brutus is safe enough : 20 
I dare assure thee that no enemy 
Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus : 
The gods defend him from so great a shame ! 
When you do find him, or alive or dead, 
He will be found like Brutus, like himself. 

Ant. This is not Brutus, friend ; but, I assure you, 
A prize no less in worth : keep this man safe ; 
Give him all kindness : I had rather have 
Such men my friends than enemies. Go on, 

12. Only I yield, etc. = I yield only, etc. ; this position of 
" only " in the sentence obtained until long after Shakespeare's 
day. 

29. [Such men as will greedily sacrifice themselves for their 
friends. It is open to conjecture that the proposition which Bru- 
tus makes in turn to Clitus and Dardanius, he had before made 
to Lucilius. 



100 JULIUS CJESAR. [ActV. 

And see whether Brutus be alive or dead ; 30 

And bring us word unto Octavius' tent 

How everything is chanced. [Exeunt 

Scene V. Another part of the field. 
Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, and Volumnius. 

Bru. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this 
rock. 

Cli. Statilius show'd the torch-light, but, my lord, 
He came not back : he is or ta'en or slain. 

Bru. Sit thee down, Clitus : slaying is the word ; 
It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus. [Whispers. 

Cli. What, I, my lord? No, not for all the world. 

Bru. Peace then ! no words. 

Cli. I '11 rather kill myself. 

Bru. Hark thee, Dardanius. [Whispers. 

Bar. Shall I do such a deed ? 

Cli. O Dardanius ! 

Bar. O Clitus ! 10 

Cli. What ill request did Brutus make to thee ? 

Bar. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates. 

Cli. Now is that noble vessel full of grief, 
That it runs over even at his eyes. 

Bru. Come hither, good Volumnius ; list a word. 

Vol. What says my lord ? 

Bru. Why, this, Volumnius : 

The ghost of Csesar hath appear'd to me 
Two several times by night ; at Sardis once, 
And, this last night, here in Philippi fields : 
I know my hour is come. 

Vol. Not so, my lord. 20 

Bru. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. 
Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes ; 



Scene V.] JULIUS CAESAR. 101 

Our enemies have beat us to the pit : [z ow alarums. 

It is more worthy to leap in ourselves, 
Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius, 
Thou know'st that we two went to school together : 
Even for that our love of old, I prithee, 
Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it. 
Vol. That 's not an office for a friend, my lord. 

[Alarum still. 

Cli. Fly, fly, my lord ; there is no tarrying here, so 
Bra. Farewell to you; and you; and you, Volum- 
nius. 

Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep ; 

Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen, 

My heart doth joy that yet in all my life 

I found no man but he was true to me. 

I shall have glory by this losing day 

More than Octavius and Mark Antony 

By this vile conquest shall attain unto. 

So fare you well at once ; for Brutus' tongue 

Hath almost ended his life's history : 40 

Night hangs upon mine eyes ; my bones would rest, 

That have but labour'd to attain this hour. 

[Alarum. Cry within, " Fly, fly, fly I " 

Cli. Fly, my lord, fly. 

Bru. Hence ! I will follow. 

[Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius. 
I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord : 
Thou art a fellow of a good resjject ; 
Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it : 
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, 
While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato ? 

23. [Have beat us to the pit, i. e. like beasts of the chase.] 

46. smatch. We should probably read " smack," of which the 

" smatch " of the folio seems to be merely an irregular spelling. 



102 JULIUS CAESAR. [ActV. 

Stra. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my 

lord. 

Bru. Farewell, good Strato. [Runs on his sword. ~\ 

Caesar, now be still : 50 

I kill'd not thee with half so good a will. [Dies. 

Alarum. Retreat. Enter Octavius, Antony, Messala, Lucilius, and 
the Army. 

Oct. What man is that ? 

Mes. My master's man. Strato, where is thy 
master ? 

Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala : 
The conquerors can but make a fire of him ; 
For Brutus only overcame himself, 
And no man else hath honour by his death. 

Lucil. So Brutus should be found. I thank thee, 
Brutus, 
That thou hast prov'd Lucilius' saying true. 59 

Oct. All that serv'd Brutus, I will entertain them. 
Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me ? 

Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you. 

Oct. Do so, good Messala. 

Mes. How died my master, Strato ? 

Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. 

Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, 
That did the latest service to my master. 

Ant. This was the noblest Roman of them all : 
All the conspirators save only he 

Did that they did in envy of great Caesar ; » 

He only, in a general honest thought 
And common good to all, made one of them. 

62. [prefer = direct.] 
70. envy = hatred. 

72. And common good to all. Loosely written : = and 
for the common good of all. 



Scene V.] JULIUS CJESAR. 103 

His life was gentle, and the elements 

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up 

And say to all the world " This was a man ! " 

Oct. According to his virtue let us use him, 
With all respect and rites of burial. 
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie, 
Most like a soldier, order' d honourably. 
So call the field to rest ; and let 's away so 

To part the glories of this happy day. [Exeunt. 

73. the elements, etc.: a reference to the old physiological 
notion that man was composed of the four elements, air, earth, 
fire, and water. 



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4. Whittier's Snow-Bound. and Other Poems.** JJ * 

5. Whittier's Mabel Martin, and Other Poems .* 

6. Holmes's Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle, etc. 

7. 8, 9. Hawthorne's True Stories from New England His- 

tory. 1620-1803. In three parts.! 

10. Hawthorne's Biographical Stories. With Questions * 

11. Longfellow's Children's Hour, and Other Selections .* 

12. Studies in Longfellow. Containing Thirty -Two Topics for 

Study, with Questions and References relating to each Topic. 

13. 14. Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha. In two parts.J 

15. Lowell's Under the Old Elm, and Other Poems .* 

16. Bayard Taylor's Lars; a Pastoral of Norway. 

17. 18. Hawthorne's "Wonder-Book. In two parts.J 

19, 20. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. In two parts.f 

21. Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, etc. 

22, 23. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. In two parts.J 

24. "Washington's Rules of Conduct, Letters and Addresses .** 

25, 26. Longfellow's Golden Legend. In two parts.l 

27. Thoreau's Succession of Forest Trees, Sounds, and Wild 

Apples. With a Biographical Sketch by R. W. Emerson. 

28. John Burroughs's Birds and Bees.* 

29. Hawthorne's Little Daffydowndilly, and Other Stories* 

30. Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal, and Other Pieces. ft * 

31. Holmes's My Hunt after the Captain, and Other Papers. 

32. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech, and Other Papers. 

33. 34, 35. Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. In three parts. 

[The three parts also in one volume, linen covers, 50 cents.] 

36. John Burroughs's Sharp Eyes, and Other Papers .* 

37. Charles Dudley Warner's A-Hunting of the Deer, etc.** 

38. Longfellow's Building of the Ship, and Other Poems. 

39. Lowell's Books and Libraries, and Other Papers. 

40. Hawthorne's Tales of the White Hills, and Sketches* 

41. Whittier's Tent on the Beach. 

42. Emerson's Fortune of the Republic, and Other Essays, 

including The American Scholar. 

4a Ulysses among the Phaeacians. From W. C. Bryant's Trans- 

lation of Homer's Odyssey. 

44. Edgeworth's Waste Not, Want Not, and Barring Out. 

45. Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. 

46. Old Testament Stories in Scripture Language. From the 

Dispersion at Babel to the Conquest of Canaan. 

47. 48. Fables and Folk Stories. Second Reader Grade. 

Phrased by IIorack E. Scuddee. In two parts.J 
49, 50. Hans Andersen's Stories. In two parts. J 

* 29 and 10 also in one Tolume, linen covers, 40 cents ; likewise 28 and 36, 4 and 
6, 15 and 30, 40 and 69, and 11 and 63. 
** Also bound in linen covers, 25 cents. 
f Also in one volume, linen covers, 46 cents. 
t Also in one volume, linen covers, 40 cents. 
tt 1} 4, and 30 also in one volume, linen covers, 50 cents. 

Continued on the inside of this cover. 

HOUGHTON. MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. 



